IMPORTANCE OF MOUNTAIN ASH IN HOOFED MAMMALS FEEDING
Mountain ash is of the greatest importance in the diet of moose in winter. During winter, the animals eat about 3,0 tons of arboreal and branch feed. In a summer-autumn period, moose eats no less than 30-40 kg of shoots and leaves per twenty-four hours. Mountain ash’s shoots and leaves are the main feed for roe deer in autumn. In certain years, the intensity of mountain ash damage reaches 100% (an average index is 43,7%, a minimum one - 12,5%). Siberian red deer eats as high as 77,6% of mountain ash’s shoots from the available vegetation. The volume of mountain ash in the diet of sika deer does not exceed 4,3% in a snowless period and in winter - 5,7%.