PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #45: Herbivory: Effects on Plants. Presiding: T. Craig.
Wednesday, August 8, 2001. 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Hall of Ideas H.
Effects of deer browsing and management on growth and structure of ground-cover plant species in sugar maple dominated forests, Upper Michigan.
Szabo, Lidia1, Crow, Thomas2, Buckley, David3, Nauertz, Elizabeth 2, Zasada, John2, 1 2 3
ABSTRACT- White-tailed deer browse on a variety of ground-cover plant species, both woody and herbaceous, but the degree to which species are selectively browsed in sugar maple dominated forests is unknown. To explore the interactions between deer browsing and different silviculture treatments on the structure and composition of ground-cover vegetation, multiple measurements were taken on vegetative growth and reproductive characteristics for populations of thirteen different species (woody and herbaceous) in ten pairs of plots (exclosed and non-exclosed) established six growing seasons prior to measurement. ANOVA consistently detected significant differences in the composition of ground-cover species due to management rather than exclosure status. Mann Whitney-U tests revealed significant differences in the morphological and reproductive characteristics (natural height, stem length, number of leaves, frequency of flowering/fruiting) of sugar maple, red-berried elder, bluebead-lily, Canada mayflower, small Solomon-seal, false Solomon-seal, and rosy twisted-stalk measured in the protected plots compared to the unprotected plots. Within the spatial and temporal context of this study, forest treatments more strongly controlled species composition, while exclosures more consistently accounted for differences in morphological and reproductive characteristics of the ground-cover vegetation in these northern hardwood forests.
KEY WORDS: white-tailed deer, herbivory, sugar maple forests