The effects of hurricane Lothar on habitat use of roe deer

Hurricanes profoundly modify the structure of forests, affecting the habitat quality of forest dwelling ungulates. For browsers in European forests the effects are expected to be positive in the short-term due to increased availability of browse, but the data to test this prediction are rarely available. In this study, data on home ranges and habitat use were collected both before and after the passage of the hurricane Lothar for six female roe deer. Deer switched from using both coppice- and timber stands to living almost only in timber stands, where most of the damage occurred. Sizes of their home ranges declined sharply (on average by >50%). These results suggest that the effect of this winter hurricane was short-term improvement in the quality of deer habitat.