Modelling carrying capacity for wild boar Sus scrofa scrofa in a forest/heathland ecosystem

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Abstract
The main habitat for wild boar in the Netherlands consists of a forest/heathland ecosystem. In this ecosystem we found an exclusive correlation between mast availability and nutritional condition in winter and reproduction of wild boar in the succeeding spring. This correlation was used to model carrying capacity in terms of a threshold density in winter, above which the average body weight is density‐dependently reduced. The results of modelling carrying capacity of an area of forests and heathlands on poor, sandy soils, for wild boar are presented. The model is based on available mast and broadleaved grasses, the latter being the main substitute for mast during winter.