PARENT SESSION

THE EFFECTS OF WHITE-TAILED DEER EXCLUSION ON WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE POPULATIONS IN TWO FOREST HABITATS. David H. Byman. Penn State Worthington Scranton, 120 Ridge View Drive, Dunmore, Pennsylvania, U.S.A..

ABSTRACT- Two 0.65 hectare deer exclosures were constructed in 1994-95 in hemlock-mixed northern hardwoods forest in northeastern Pennsylvania. The western exclosure is beneath a tree canopy dominated by red oak, red maple, beech and some eastern hemlock. Three hundred meters away, the eastern exclosure canopy is more than 90% eastern hemlock. Beginning in 1996, small mammal populations were monitored from May through September on four 4X10 Sherman trap grids, one in each exclosure and one outside each exclosure. Following the 8th year (2003), it is now clear that the white-footed mouse populations at the two sites have not been directly affected by the absence of white-tailed deer. Early in the study, (1996-1999), mice were more numerous in the mixed forest exclosure than in the control and in the both mixed forest grids than in the hemlock grids. Over the entire eight years of the study, no trends in numbers of individuals captured, total numbers of captures and numbers of heavy mice (greater than 19 g in weight) captured were observed in association with absence of deer or forest habitat type.

KEY WORDS: deer, succesion, Peromyscus leucopus, forest