Why increasing forest disturbances are good news for Europe’s large herbivores

Based on a massive collaborative effort with partners from across Europe, we highlight why strongly increasing forest disturbances are good news for Europe’s large herbivores.

We leveraged tracking data on 3,069 individuals of four ungulate species to perform a continental, multi-decadal assessment of large herbivore responses to forest disturbance. We found long-lasting positive impacts on habitat suitability, with considerable variation across species and seasons.

Forest disturbances are expected to increase further under climate change. Given the importance of both forest disturbances and large herbivores in shaping forest ecosystems, it will be important to consider their interactions in wildlife and forest management.

See the full paper here: Oeser, J., Kowalczyk, R., Kuijper, D., Neumann, W., Reiner, R., Seidl, R., Senf, C., Bluhm, H., Bonnot, N. C., Börger, L., Borowik, T., Cagnacci, F., Churski, M., Gehr, B., Heurich, M., Hewison, M. A. J., Jerina, K., Kröschel, M., Morellet, N., Mysterud, A., …Kuemmerle, T. (2026), Increasing forest disturbance enhances habitat suitability for Europe’s large herbivores. Nature Ecology & Evolution (2026).