Dat. num.; 7 ref. Sum. (En)

The consumption of pine needles and the stripping of bark by sheep grazing annual pastures in three open stands of P. radiata and one of P. pinaster were measured. Needles were eaten inmediately after the sheep were admitted and this continued throughout the year. The estimated consumption was about 260 g/sheep/day for the P. radiata. Bark stripping then commenced and continued throughout spring and summer on most plots. In some plots at low tree density, bark was stripped from more than 35 percent of the trees. In denser stands, needle consumption per tree was less and bark was stripped from less than 5 percent of the trees. Bark damage was most common on the smaller trees, and severity of stripping was negatively correlated with tree size. Of all the trees with bark damage, 22 percent of the P. pinaster and 14 percent of the P. radiata had more than half of the stem circumference stripped. A number of these will probably suffer both stem distortion and growth retardation, and some may die. Methods for reducing the incidence of bark damage are discussed