BARK STRIPPING DAMAGE BY RED DEER IN A SITKA SPRUCE FOREST IN WESTERNSCOTLAND .3. TRENDS IN WOUND CONDITION

Bark stripping by red deer has been monitored at 40 sites in Glenbrant er Forest, Argyll, since 1978, and the state of the 1173 wounds incurr ed has been recorded yearly. Despite deaths of trunks and felling, 70 per cent of the wounds are still extant. Xylem was exposed and resin p roduced in the great majority of wounds. After 2 years new bark was de veloping on most wounds and after 8 years many wounds were completely healed. Large wounds greater than 180 cm(2) in area had xylem exposed longer and healed more slowly than smaller wounds. Trees 20 or more ye ars old at wounding had slower healing than younger trees, and about 1 0 per cent of the damaged trunks died. Many fraying and thrashing woun ds occurred on trunks or trees that later died, but wounds of this ori gin which began to heal quickly became completely healed. Rots develop ed in only 1 per cent of the wounds, most of them greater than 180 cm( 2) in area. Although damage from bark stripping seems less serious tha n feared, timber defects may exist below apparently healed wounds.