A case study on the effects of a transmission‐line corridor on Sika deer habitat use at the foothills of Mt Goyo, northern Honshu, Japan

Abstract Forage biomass and habitat use of Sika deer ( Cervus nippon ) at a transmission‐line corridor were studied at the foothills of Mt Goyo, northern Japan. Summer forage biomass in the corridor was five times greater than in the adjacent Betula grossa forest. Among the plants that increased in the corridor, Sasa nipponica (a dwarf bamboo), an important forage plant for Sika deer, was predominant. Winter utilization of S. nipponica by Sika deer was slightly heavier in the corridor, and estimated removal of Sasa leaves was twice as great there as in the forest. However fecal pellets were more prevalent in the adjacent forest in winter. Sika deer seemed to use the transmission‐line corridor as a feeding site and the adjacent forest as cover as it reduces wind speed. A transmission‐line corridor is more beneficial than a large clear‐cut area because it provides more forest edges.