Effects of Deer Browsing on Native and Non-native Vegetation in a Mixed Oak-Beech Forest on the Atlantic Coastal Plain

Rossell, C. Reed; Patch, Steven C.; Salmons, S.E.

doi:10.1656/1092-6194(2007)14[61:eodbon]2.0.co;2

Cited by 49 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The doubling invasive vine cover and nearly 20-fold increase of native vine cover with this treatment combination relative to the control (i.e., I 0 U, untreated invasives outside exclosures) was not anticipated. However, the literature does indicate that both invasive vines found in this study, Japanese honeysuckle and Oriental bittersweet, are preferred browse species [21,69,70]. This highlights that excluding all deer herbivory can have the deleterious, secondary effect of increasing growth of invasive vines.…”

Section: Inside Exclosuresmentioning

confidence: 57%

Independent Effects of Invasive Shrubs and Deer Herbivory on Plant Community Dynamics

Ward

Williams

Linske

2016

Forests

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Both invasive species and deer herbivory are recognized as locally important drivers of plant community dynamics. However, few studies have examined whether their effects are synergistic, additive, or antagonistic. At three study areas in southern New England, we examined the interaction of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) herbivory and three levels of invasive shrub control over seven growing seasons on the dynamics of nine herbaceous and shrub guilds. Although evidence of synergistic interactions was minimal, the separate effects of invasive shrub control and deer herbivory on plant community composition and dynamics were profound. Plant communities remained relatively unchanged where invasive shrubs were not treated, regardless if deer herbivory was excluded or not. With increasing intensity of invasive shrub control, native shrubs and forbs became more dominant where deer herbivory was excluded, and native graminoids became progressively more dominant where deer herbivory remained severe. While deer exclusion and intensive invasive shrub control increased native shrubs and forbs, it also increased invasive vines. Restoring native plant communities in areas with both established invasive shrub thickets and severe deer browsing will require an integrated management plan to eliminate recalcitrant invasive shrubs, reduce deer browsing intensity, and quickly treat other opportunistic invasive species.

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Section: Inside Exclosuresmentioning

confidence: 57%

Independent Effects of Invasive Shrubs and Deer Herbivory on Plant Community Dynamics

Ward

Williams

Linske

2016

Forests

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“…Likewise, "snapshot counts" of invaders often leave out critical life cycle stages and do not provide information on rates of survival, reproduction, or growth, without which population dynamics cannot be analyzed. Thus, it is not surprising that ungulate exclusion experiments that apply such metrics provide no unified answer regarding exotic invaders [effect on invasion success: none (34)(35)(36); mixed (37,38); positive (39-41; reviewed in ref. 16)] because these studies cannot address population viability of invaders or natives.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

In a long-term experimental demography study, excluding ungulates reversed invader's explosive population growth rate and restored natives

Kalisz

Spigler

Horvitz

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

128

157

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A major goal in ecology is to understand mechanisms that increase invasion success of exotic species. A recent hypothesis implicates altered species interactions resulting from ungulate herbivore overabundance as a key cause of exotic plant domination. To test this hypothesis, we maintained an experimental demography deer exclusion study for 6 y in a forest where the native ungulate Odocoileus virginianus (white-tailed deer) is overabundant and Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) is aggressively invading. Because population growth is multiplicative across time, we introduce metrics that correctly integrate experimental effects across treatment years, the cumulative population growth rate, λ c , and its geometric mean, λ per-year , the time-averaged annual population growth rate. We determined λ c and λ per-year of the invader and of a common native, Trillium erectum. Our results conclusively demonstrate that deer are required for the success of Alliaria; its projected population trajectory shifted from explosive growth in the presence of deer (λ per-year = 1.33) to decline toward extinction where deer are excluded (λ per-year = 0.88). In contrast, Trillium's λ per-year was suppressed in the presence of deer relative to deer exclusion (λ per-year = 1.04 vs. 1.20, respectively). Retrospective sensitivity analyses revealed that the largest negative effect of deer exclusion on Alliaria came from rosette transitions, whereas the largest positive effect on Trillium came from reproductive transitions. Deer exclusion lowered Alliaria density while increasing Trillium density. Our results provide definitive experimental support that interactions with overabundant ungulates enhance demographic success of invaders and depress natives' success, with broad implications for biodiversity and ecosystem function worldwide.life table response experiment | herbivory | biotic resistance | temperate deciduous forest conservation | forest understory herbs S teadily increasing pressure by invasive plant species on native biodiversity (1) disrupts both community and ecosystem function (2) and results in staggering economic costs worldwide (3, 4). A major goal in ecology is to understand how changes over time in species interactions affect invasion success of exotic species (5-8). According to ecological theory, the ability of the resident community to limit the success of invading exotics [biotic resistance (9, 10)] will depend upon ecological context that includes the suite of local interactors (11-15). The abundance of herbivores and their local impacts (11,14,16) can play a prominent role in how fast plant populations grow or shrink and how much the relative abundance of plant species changes over time (5, 15), including changes associated with plant invasions (11,(16)(17)(18)(19). Recently, increased browsing pressure by overabundant ungulate herbivores on native plant communities has been proposed as a fundamental cause of a shift from native to exotic plant domination in forests and rangelands worldwide (11,16,20). Wild and domes...

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“…have increased up to 15-fold since the early 1900s (McCabe and McCabe 1997;Rooney 2001), leading ecologists to question their role in facilitating plant invasion (Vavra et al 2007). Literature on the subject is equivocal, with some studies showing that deer increase the abundance of invasive introduced plants (Eschtruth and Battles 2009b;Knight et al 2009;Kalisz et al 2014) and others showing the opposite (Rossell et al 2007), variable (Cadenasso et al 2002;Knapp et al 2008;Averill 2014), or no (Bowers 1993) effect of deer. Deer are expected to selectively browse at the individual plant and species levels (Augustine and McNaughton 1998), but deer selectivity across broader groups of native versus invasive introduced plants has not previously been tested.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Deer feeding selectivity for invasive plants

et al. 2016

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Native generalist herbivores might limit plant invasion by consuming invading plants or enhance plant invasion by selectively avoiding them. The role of herbivores in plant invasion has been investigated in relation to plant native/introduced status, however, a knowledge gap exists about whether food selection occurs according to native/introduced status or to species. We tested preference of the native herbivore white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for widespread and frequently occurring invasive introduced and native plants in the northeastern United States. Multiplechoice deer preference trials were conducted for the species and relative preference was determined using biomass consumption and feeding behavior. While more native than introduced plant biomass was consumed overall, deer food selection varied strongly by plant species. Results show consistent deer avoidance of several invasive introduced plants (Alliaria petiolata, Berberis thunbergii, and Microstegium vimineum) and a native plant (Dennstaedtia punctilobula). Other invasive introduced plants (Celastrus orbiculatus, Ligustrum vulgare, and Lonicera morrowii) and a native plant (Acer rubrum) were highly preferred. These results provide evidence that herbivore impacts on plant invaders depend on plant species palatability. Consequently, herbivore selectivity likely plays an important role in the invasion process. To the extent that herbivory impacts population demographics, these results suggest that native generalist herbivores promote enemy release of some plant invaders by avoiding them and contribute to biotic resistance of others by consuming them.

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Effects of Deer Browsing on Native and Non-native Vegetation in a Mixed Oak-Beech Forest on the Atlantic Coastal Plain

Cited by 49 publications

References 18 publications

Independent Effects of Invasive Shrubs and Deer Herbivory on Plant Community Dynamics

Independent Effects of Invasive Shrubs and Deer Herbivory on Plant Community Dynamics

In a long-term experimental demography study, excluding ungulates reversed invader's explosive population growth rate and restored natives

Deer feeding selectivity for invasive plants

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