Ungulate reference areas
KEY POINTS- SLU monitors ungulate communities, forage availability & forage utilisation
- 14 landscapes across a latitude gradient from Växjö to Råneå in Sweden
- Plant-animal interactions and opportunities for landuse have been monitored since 2008
Project overview
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Short summary
Within the monitoring programme Ungulate reference areas, we study plant–animal interactions. This includes effects on wildlife and the landscape, as well as opportunities for different forms of land use, including hunting.
Within Ungulate reference areas, we follow variation and change in ungulate populations, forage availability and forage use along a latitudinal gradient through Sweden's boreonemoral and boreal zones. Repeated surveys are needed to understand how changes in ungulate communities and forest landscapes affect browsing pressure and wildlife damage over time. The monitoring programme is part of environmental assessment at SLU's Forest Damage Centre.
The programme covers 14 reference areas with different ungulate communities, ranging from dominance by fallow deer to dominance by moose and semi-domesticated reindeer, and spans landscapes dominated by spruce or pine. Several areas have been strongly affected by storms, fire, spruce bark beetles or wildlife. We combine pellet counts with measurements of forage availability, forage use and forest characteristics. In young stands, we follow stand composition and damage using an extended methodology based on the Moose Browsing Inventory, ÄBIN. In 2025, 5,786 plots were surveyed at the landscape scale and 2,094 plots in young stands.
The time series support analyses of changes in relative ungulate densities, community composition and total forage requirements, and their relationships with browsing pressure and damage. We can compare developments where moose decline and other ungulates increase, and follow landscapes after major disturbances. The reference areas are not randomly selected: they represent different ecological conditions and do not by themselves provide representative estimates for Sweden as a whole.
The programme provides long-term data and research infrastructure for several projects. This gives research projects and managers evidence for considering the entire ungulate community alongside forage availability, evaluating measures and adapting management as conditions change. Results are communicated throughout the programme, both to the forestry sector through SLU's Forest Damage Centre and to wildlife management, including public authorities, hunters and forest owners, through findings from projects that use the collected data.