Wild herbivores in forests: four case studies

Abstract

A three population system with a top predator population, i.e. the herbivores, and two prey populations, grass and trees, is considered to model the interaction of herbivores with natural resources. We apply the model for four natural mountain parks in Northern Italy, three located in the Eastern Alps, two of which in the Dolomites and one in the Julian Alps, and one in the Maritime Alps, Northwest Italy. The simulations, based on actual data gathered from contacts with rangers and parks administrators, field samplings and published material, provide useful information on the behavior of the vegetation-wild herbivores interactions and the possible medium-long term evolution of these ecosystems. At the same time they show that these ecosystems are in a very delicate situation, for which the animal populations could become extinguished in case of adverse environmental conditions. The determination of the so called sensitivity surfaces support our findings and indicate some possible preventive measures to the park admistrators.