Wild Boar Impact to the Natural Regeneration of Oak and Acorn Importance in Its Diet

ZEMAN JAROSLAV, HRBEK JAN, DRIMAJ JAKUB, PLHAL RADIM, KAMLER JIŘÍ, ADAMEC ZDENĚK, HEROLDOVÁ MARTA. 2016. Wild Boar Impact to the Natural Regeneration of Oak and Acorn Importance in its Diet. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 64(2): 579–585. In this study, the impact of wild boar on the natural regeneration of oak and importance of acorns in the wild boar diet were surveyed. The data were collected near Moravian Krumlov (Czech Republic) in three types of oak stands diff ering in the canopy density: fully-stocked stand (1), open-canopy stand (2) and the forest stand in a conversion to the coppice forest (3). Within each stand 150 m long lines were set out. Seed traps to collect acorn harvest and control plots were installed on these lines. The plots were inspected at weekly intervals. A er the end of acorn fall the average amount of fallen acorns was evaluated. The quantity of metabolizable energy in acorns was assessed and daily survival dose of energy for average weight of wild boar was counted. In spring 2014 the number of seedlings was counted at the same plots. Production of acorns per hectare and basic energy needs for one individual wild boar per day were evaluated for each chosen stand type. The found seedling density amounted to 29,600, 32,000 and 14,000 ind./ha in the fi rst, second and third stand under study, respectively. Wild boar is a major consumer of acorns. In the studied area the production of acorns suffi ciently supplied the local wild boar population during winter. Necessary amount of acorns remained for the natural regeneration.