Abstract
Recently, the habitat of sika deer has expanded to include snowy regions, and browsing damage by these deer has been reported. To promote revegetation in these snowy regions it is necessary to prevent this damage. Use of tree shelters is one method of damage prevention. To clarify the snow-pressure resistance of tree shelters, we tracked the snow depth over 1 snow season in cedar forests located on a flat site in a snowy region, and after the snowmelt we investigated the rate of damage to the shelters. We installed 20 hexagonal-column-type tree shelters (height: 140 cm) at the site. We also followed snow depth by automatic photographs taken every hour during winter 2013-2014. The snow cover period lasted at least 106 days. The maximum snow depth during the investigation period was 110 cm. No damaged or collapsed hexagonal-column-type tree shelters were observed after the snowmelt. This suggested that hexagonal-column-type tree shelters are usable year -round if the maximum snow depth is less than the height of the tree shelter.
