Elevation affects both the occurrence of ungulate browsing and its effect on tree seedling growth for four major tree species in European mountain forests

Table 1 Description of the seven field sites showed in Fig. 1

Site elevational gradient	Mean latitude	Mean longitude	Elevational range	Temperature range (°C)	Precipitation (mm)	No. of transects	No. of plots	Woody species present^a	Ungulate species present^b
Vercors	44° 59′ N	05° 30′ E	1200–1400	1.8–2.7	1110–1152	2	6	ABAL, ACPS, BEPU, FASY, PIAB, PIUN, SOAR, SOAU	CC, CE, CI, OGm
Belledonne	45° 05′ N	05° 50′ E	547–2013	− 1.1 to 5.7	916–1440	7	26	ABAL, ACPL, ACPS, CABE, CASA, FASY, FREX, QUPE, PIAB, PICE, PIUN, PRAV, POTR, SOAU, TIPL	CC, CE, CI, OGm
Chartreuse	45° 22′ N	05° 45′ E	524–1520	1.1–5.8	960–1282	3	17	ABAL, ACPL, ACPS, CABE, COAV, FASY, FREX, PIAB, PIUN, SOAR, SOAU, TICO	CC, CE, CI, OGm
Freiburg	47° 55′ N	07° 53′ E	560–1260	1.2–5	1002–1513	6	24	ABAL, ACPS, FASY, FREX, LADE, PIAB, SOAU	CC, CE
Bavarian FNP	49° 03′ N	13° 20′ E	765–1355	2–7.2	894–1295	4	30	ABAL, ALGL, ALIN, ACPL, ACPS, BEPU, FASY, FREX, PIAB, POTR, PRAV, SOAU, TABA, TIPL	CC, CE
Krościenko	49° 26′ N	20° 33′ E	500–1100	− 0.1 to 1.6	751–987	4	16	ABAL, ACPL, ACPS, BEPE, COAV, FASY, FREX, PIAB, PRAV, POTR, SOAU, TICO	CC, CE
Gällivare	67° 07′ N	20° 33′ E	400–608	− 8.3 to − 9.2	486–512	4	16	ALIN, BEPU, PIAB, PISY, SAsp	AA, CC

Climate variables—annual mean temperature range and annual mean cumulative precipitation range—were obtained from WorldClim model (Hijmans et al. 2005). Species selected for this study are shown in italicized characters
^aTree species: ABAL Abies alba Mill., ALGL Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn., ALIN Alnus incana (L.) Moench, ACPL Acer platanoides L., ACPS Acer pseudoplatanus L., BEPE Betula pendula Roth, BEPU Betula pubescens Ehrh., CABE Carpinus betulus L., COAV Corylus avellana L., CASA Castanea sativa Mill., FASY Fagus sylvatica L., FREX Fraxinus excelsior L., LADE Larix decidua Mill., QUPE Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl., PIAB Picea abies (L.) H. Karst., PICE Pinus cembra L., PISY Pinus sylvestris L., PIUN Pinus uncinata Ramond ex DC., PRAV Prunus avium L., POTR Populus tremula L., SAsp Salix sp., SOAR Sorbus aria (L.) Crantz, SOAU Sorbus aucuparia L., TABA Taxus baccata L., TICO Tilia cordata Mill., TIPL Tilia platyphyllos Scop
^bUngulate species: AA Alces alces Linnaeus, CC Capreolus capreolus (L.), CI Capra ibex Linnaeus, CE Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, OGm Ovis gmelini musimon (Pallas)

ISSN: 1297-966X