Grazing pressure on grass meadows by red deer

Grazing by wildlife on agricultural land is widespread across geographical regions, and can cause human-wildlife conflicts due to reduced crop yield when the grazing pressure is high. Growing red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations in Europe calls for an increased understanding of their grazing patterns to mitigate damages. We quantified how red deer grazing pressure (grazing presence and grazing level) on agricultural grass meadows (n = 60) in Norway varied across multiple spatial scales. We used a nested, hierarchical study design transcending from broad scale (meadows across the landscape) to intermediate (between nearby meadows) and local (within-meadow) scale, allowing us to identify at which scale the variation in grazing pressure was strongest. We estimated how grazing was determined by broad-scale factors influencing forage availability and quality through population density, distance to coastline and differences between the first versus second harvest, by intermediate-scale facto..., The dataset was collected by observing the number of grazed grass blades on n=60 grass meadows on the Norwegian west coast during two field periods of 2021. On each meadow, two parallel transects with a random 30-70 m distance apart and minimum 10 m from the meadow edges were delineated (for each field period). For each transect, vegetational assessments were performed 20 times approximately 5 m apart, each time within a standard botanical metal frame (50 x 50 cm, divided into four sub-squares). 
Using a standard botanical frame (50x50 cm), the number of grazing incidents were counted. The number of grazing incidents in every sub-square of the botanical frame were categorised into four levels: 0 = no observed grazing; 1 = 1-3 grazing instances, 2 = 4-6 grazing instances, 3 = ≥7 grazing instances. One grazing incidence is counted for each grass blade that is grazed. The mean of this measure of grazing quantity was calculated for each sampling square (botanical frame), and re-scaled from ..., , # Grazing pressure on grass meadows by red deer

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c59zw3rhb](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c59zw3rhb)

This dataset contains data on grazing damages by red deer (*Cervus elaphus*) on grass meadows on the Norwegian west coast (Møre & Romsdal county + southern part of Trøndelag county). Grazing damage was quantified by the number of grazing incidents. On each meadow (n=60, surveyed in two field periods during 2021), two parallel transects with a random 30-70 m distance apart and minimum 10 m from the meadow edges were delineated (for each field period). For each transect, vegetational assessments were performed 20 times approximately 5 m apart, each time within a standard botanical metal frame (50 x 50 cm, divided into four sub-squares), and the number of grazing incidents were counted. The number of grazing incidents in every sub-square of the botanical frame were categorised into four levels: 0 = no observed grazing; 1 = 1-3 grazing instances, 2 = 4-6 g...