Defining deer overabundance and threats to forest communities: From individual plants to landscape structure

Augustine, David J.; deCalesta, David S.

doi:10.1080/11956860.2003.11682795

Cited by 100 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Mcinnes et al 1992;Augustine & McNaughton 1998). They can facilitate the long-distance dispersal of a large number of plant species (Vellend et al 2003;Eycott et al 2004), but are often associated with a decline of palatable species (Augustine & DeCalesta 2003;Kirby 2001). Forest plants are often poorly adapted to high grazing levels (Rackham 1980) compared with non-forest, particularly grassland, species and this was reflected in ordination analyses.…”

Section: - mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between the species composition of forest field‐layer vegetation and environmental drivers, assessed using a national scale survey

et al. 2006

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Summary1 Simulation models of forest stand dynamics have increased understanding of over-storey vegetation functioning, and have facilitated the development of tools capable of assessing possible successional trajectories. However, few models incorporate the response of the field layer vegetation despite it being another key component of forest ecosystems. 2 Our main objective was to assess the degree to which field-layer vegetation composition in forests is determined by variables operating at different scales, from regional (e.g. climate, location) to local factors (e.g. basal area of canopy trees, management). 3 We used data gathered during a nationwide forest survey to assess the relative effects of a broad spectrum of environmental variables on species composition. Variation partitioning was used to examine the relative contribution of subsets of environmental variables such as site spatial variation, boundary type and presence of herbivores. 4 Ordination confirmed hypotheses that field layer vegetation is primarily structured by two composite geo-climatic gradients. However, variation partitioning demonstrated that site-and plot-scale management factors also strongly influence the floristic composition of forest patches. 5 Disturbance variables (site boundary type/regional presence of deer) accounted for considerable species variation, exceeding that due to either site spatial variation or forest structure. 6 This is the first time variation attributable to such a comprehensive range of environmental variables has been quantified for forests surveyed at a national scale. We thus provide a context within which regional studies, or analyses considering a more limited range of factors, can be viewed, and a framework from which robust models of floristic response to gradual and episodic natural and anthropogenic disturbances may be developed. 7 The methodology we present, including a novel technique for the identification and removal of outliers in large data sets, provides a unique and standardized means of assessing the relative importance of diverse environmental drivers across a range of habitat types at the landscape scale, and is readily applicable elsewhere.

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Section: - mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between the species composition of forest field‐layer vegetation and environmental drivers, assessed using a national scale survey

et al. 2006

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“…Trillium grandiflorum white trillium (Melanthiaceae; Zomlefer et al 2001) is a preferred food of deer (Anderson 1994, Augustine andFrelich 1998) and is an excellent indicator species for determining sustainable deer browse level in forests (Anderson 1994, Augustine and DeCalesta 2003, Knight 2004. Despite the fact that many T. grandiflorum populations are suspected to be declining in size, this species remains a ubiquitous component of deciduous forests understories throughout eastern North America (Case and Case 1997).…”

Section: Study Species and Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because deer are generalist herbivores, most palatable forest understory species are currently experiencing unprecedented herbivore pressure (McCabe and McCabe 1997, Russell et al 2001, Côté et al 2004. Worldwide, deer and other large ungulate browsers threaten forest and agricultural ecosystems because their dense populations can inhibit forest plants' regeneration and reduce crop yield (Tilghman 1989, Inouye et al 1994, Waller and Alverson 1997Persson et al 2000;Rooney 2001, Russell et al 2001, Augustine & DeCalesta 2003, Horsley et al 2003, Côté et al 2004). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population growth rate of a common understory herb decreases non-linearly across a gradient of deer herbivory

Knight

Caswell

Kalisz

2009

Forest Ecology and Management

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(247 words).Overabundant white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are a significant management problem in North America that exert unprecedented herbivory pressure on native understory forest communities. Conserving understory plant populations requires quantifying a sustainable level of deer herbivory. To date, most population projection models consider only deer presence and absence. To estimate population growth rate along a gradient of herbivory, we focused on Trillium grandiflorum because it is a common understory species and a bellwether of deer effects and forest decline. We used matrix population models, and employed both prospective and retrospective analyses using a regression life table response experiment (LTRE).Deer affect size, stage and population dynamics of T. grandiflorum. Because deer target flowering and large non-flowering stages of T. grandiflorum, these individuals do not produce seed in the year they are browsed and are more likely to regress in stage and size in the following growing season relative to non-browsed plants. Importantly, sustained high browse levels result in populations dominated by small, non-flowering individuals. Our LTRE revealed a significant negative and decelerating relationship between herbivory and λ. This non-linearity occurs at the highest herbivory levels because highly browsed populations become dominated by stages that deer do not consume and are thus buffered from rapid decline. However, population extinction is expected when herbivory is greater than the pivotal value of ~15%. Our study demonstrates that levels of deer herbivory commonly experienced by forest understory perennials are sufficient to cause the loss of T. grandiflorum and likely other co-occurring palatable species.

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“…It would be expected that local areas with high deer populations will have limited reproduction of palatable tree species. Impacts of deer browsing are especially problematic when occurring in combination with habitat fragmentation and incursion by invasive plants that are more common in populated areas of the State (Augustine and deCalesta 2003).…”

Section: What This Meansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Michigan Forests 2014

Pugh¹,

Heym²,

Butler³

et al. 2017

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The eighth inventory of Michigan's forests, completed in 2014, describes more than 20.3 million acres of forest land. The data in this report are based on visits to 4,289 forested plots from 2009 to 2014. Timberland accounts for 95 percent of this forest land, and 62 percent is privately owned. The sugar maple/beech/yellow birch forest type accounts for 19 percent of the State's forest land, followed by aspen (12 percent) and white oak/red oak/hickory (7 percent). Balsam fir, red maple, and sugar maple are the three most common species by number of trees. Growing-stock volume on timberland has continued to increase and now totals about 30.2 billion cubic feet (ft 3 ).The associated net growth, harvest removals, and mortality totaled 674, 313, and 303 million ft 3 / year, respectively. In addition to information on forest attributes, this report includes data on forest health, land use change, family forest owners, timber-product outputs, and future forests. Detailed information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and important resource statistics can be found online at https://doi

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Defining deer overabundance and threats to forest communities: From individual plants to landscape structure

Cited by 100 publications

References 37 publications

Relationships between the species composition of forest field‐layer vegetation and environmental drivers, assessed using a national scale survey

Relationships between the species composition of forest field‐layer vegetation and environmental drivers, assessed using a national scale survey

Population growth rate of a common understory herb decreases non-linearly across a gradient of deer herbivory

Michigan Forests 2014

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