This study investigated the impact of small rodents on young trees during three growing seasons (2018–2020) in the Czech Republic. Tree damage by small rodents, the quantity and quality of herbaceous plant biomass and the species composition of small mammals were monitored at two sites in European beech forest plantations. The number of trees damaged during three growing seasons correlated positively with fibre content and negatively with nitrogen content in herbaceous plant biomass. The importance of winter precipitation is reflected in the positive correlation with nitrogen content in herbaceous plant biomass. The observed tree-gnawing damage correlated positively with the abundance of one rodent species only—the bank vole. The highest damage occurred after the concurrence of a dry winter and a higher number of voles. Given current climate variability, this situation could become more common in the future. Gnawing may be a limiting factor for the successful restoration of trees with thin bark—in our case, European beech. In addition, the proportion of this woody species should be increased to achieve a more stable and closer composition in the Czech Republic.

本研究调查了捷克共和国三个生长季节（2018-2020 年）中小型啮齿动物对幼树的影响。在欧洲山毛榉森林种植园的两个地点监测了小型啮齿动物对树木的破坏、草本植物生物量的数量和质量以及小型哺乳动物的物种组成。三个生长季节受损的树木数量与纤维含量呈正相关，与草本植物生物量中的氮含量呈负相关。冬季降水的重要性体现在与草本植物生物量中的氮含量呈正相关。观察到的啃树破坏仅与一种啮齿动物物种的丰度呈正相关 - 田鼠。在干燥的冬季和更多的田鼠同时发生之后，造成的损失最大。鉴于当前的气候变化，这种情况在未来可能会变得更加普遍。啃咬可能是成功修复树皮薄的树木（在我们的例子中是欧洲山毛榉）的一个限制因素。此外，应该增加这种木本物种的比例，以在捷克共和国实现更稳定、更紧密的组成。