Table 3 List of the main explanatory variables whose impact on the severity of bark peeling rate was tested in the present study
From: Modeling recent bark stripping by red deer (Cervus elaphus) in South Belgium coniferous stands
Spatial variables | Used abbreviation | Unit | r | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean altitude | Altitude | m | 0.18 | <0.001 |
Slope | Slope | ° | −0.246 | <0.001 |
Proportion of forested area | % | 0.35 | <0.001 | |
Proportion of agricultural area | AgriProp | % | −0.35 | <0.001 |
Proportion of coniferous stands | ConifProp | % | 0.188 | <0.01 |
Proportion of broad-leaved stands | % | −0.187 | <0.01 | |
Proportion of mixed stands | % | −0.085 | n.s. | |
Number of forest patches | −0.217 | <0.01 | ||
Mean patch size | ha | 0.287 | <0.001 | |
Forest patch size standard deviation | ha | 0.268 | <0.01 | |
Total edges (TE) | km | −0.168 | <0.05 | |
Mean patch edge | km | 0.257 | <0.01 | |
Edge density (TE/total landscape area) | km/ha | −0.168 | <0.05 | |
Forest area connection factor (percentage of the perimeter which is surrounded by forest on both sides) | % | 0.149 | <0.05 | |
Forest area separation factor (percentage of the perimeter that deer cannot cross, such as main roads) | % | −0.04 | n.s. | |
Average distance of plots to closest road | m | 0.212 | <0.01 | |
Average distance of plots to closest main road | m | 0.139 | <0.05 | |
Average distance of plots to urban areas | UrbanDist | m | 0.23 | <0.01 |
Estimated deer density per 1,000 ha | DeerDensity | 0.456 | <0.001 | |
Number of deer shot per 1,000 ha | 0.446 | <0.001 | ||
Ordinal level of visitations by humans (Colson et al. 2010) | 0.141 | <0.05 | ||
Average number of species in the herbaceous stratum | −0.117 | n.s. | ||
Average cover of the herbaceous stratum | % | 0.046 | n.s. | |
Average number of species in regeneration | SaplingDiversity | −0.184 | <0.01 | |
Average cover of the regeneration area | % | −0.052 | n.s. | |
Number of average species in the tree stratum | −0.227 | <0.01 | ||
Number of days in which tree growth occurred (T base = 10 °C) | −0.236 | <0.01 | ||
Number of snow days | SnowCover | 0.250 | <0.001 | |
Mean stand age | 0.169 | <0.05 | ||
Mean stand density | −0.264 | <0.001 |