Forest Vegetation Response to White-Tailed Deer Population Reductions in a Large Urban Park

Jenkins, Michael A.; Howard, Brenda S.

doi:10.3375/043.041.0206

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The smaller hull size of the 2021 woody stem community indicates monitoring sites are becoming more similar to each other than those in 1992 for woody stem composition (Figure 3). The woody stem community after 1992 showed a greater association with species known to benefit from deer exclusion including red ash ( Fraxinus pennsylvanica ), and eastern white cedar (Bradshaw and Waller 2016, Jenkins and Howard 2021). In the NMDS analysis of the vegetation cover dataset (Figure 4), the composition was also slow to change within the first 5 sampling years (i.e., 1992–1997).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Less is more: vegetation changes coincide with white‐tailed deer suppression over thirty years

Pickering,

Bradstreet,

Norris

2024

Wildlife Monographs

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Although ecological impacts of overabundant white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are well documented in eastern North America, few studies have evaluated the long‐term effects of adaptive deer population suppression after a period of overabundance. We examined vegetation community changes over a period of 30 years (1992–2021) on the Long Point Peninsula, Ontario, Canada following a >85% reduction of a previously overabundant white‐tailed deer population. We documented a significant increase in species diversity and shifts in the species composition of understory plants and woody vegetation. We then evaluated several hypotheses to explain these patterns. Our results provide support for the all‐you‐can‐browse hypothesis, in which the abundance of woody stems above the browse layer did not increase within the first 3 years of sampling but, consistent within an expected period of recruitment, increased by >1,500% from 1995–2021. We also found support for both the lawn maintenance hypothesis, with a significant decline in the proportional abundance of non‐preferred species relative to preferred species, and for the seed bank hypothesis, with native species accounting for nearly 80% of new species observed over the sampling period. We conclude that the effective, long‐term management and continued suppression of an previously overabundant white‐tailed deer population can lead to increased vegetation community heterogeneity and diversity, which is likely one of the most important steps for the regeneration of woody stems and native vegetation communities.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Less is more: vegetation changes coincide with white‐tailed deer suppression over thirty years

Pickering,

Bradstreet,

Norris

2024

Wildlife Monographs

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“…The presence of widespread regeneration debt across the study area has implications for forest managers across the region facing similar regeneration debt and excessive DBIs (e.g., see Blossey et al, 2019; Jenkins & Howard, 2021; Kilheffer et al, 2019). The regeneration debt index can help managers determine when intervention is necessary (i.e., classified as imminent or probable failure) and evaluate forest response to management over time, as we have shown with parks undergoing deer management.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overabundant deer and invasive plants drive widespread regeneration debt in eastern United States national parks

Miller

Perles

Schmit

et al. 2023

Ecological Applications

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Advanced regeneration, in the form of tree seedlings and saplings, is critical for ensuring the long-term viability and resilience of forest ecosystems in the eastern United States. Lack of regeneration and/or compositional mismatch between regeneration and canopy layers, called regeneration debt, can lead to shifts in forest composition, structure, and, in extreme cases, forest loss. In this study, we examined status and trends in regeneration across 39 national parks from Virginia to Maine, spanning 12 years to apply the regeneration debt concept. We further refined the concept by adding new metrics and classifying results into easily interpreted categories adapted from the literature: imminent failure, probable failure, insecure, and secure. We then used model selection to determine the potential drivers most influencing patterns of regeneration debt. Status and trends indicated widespread regeneration debt in eastern national parks, with 27 of 39 parks classified as imminent or probable failure.Deer browse impact was consistently the strongest predictor of regeneration abundance. The most pervasive component of regeneration debt observed across parks was a sapling bottleneck, characterized by critically low sapling density of native canopy species and significant declines in native canopy sapling basal area or density for most parks. Regeneration mismatches also threaten forest resilience in many parks, where native canopy seedlings and saplings were outnumbered by native subcanopy species, particularly species that are less palatable deer browse. The devastating impact of emerald ash borer eliminating ash as a native canopy tree also drove regeneration mismatches in many parks that contain abundant ash regeneration, demonstrating the vulnerability of forests that lack diverse understories to invasive pests and pathogens. These findings underscore the critical importance of an integrated forest management approach that promotes an abundant and diverse regeneration layer. In most cases, this can only be achieved through long-term (i.e., multidecadal) management of white-tailed deer and

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“…Research on forage nutritional content and preference by white‐tailed deer, utilization of different plant species including in settings protected and unprotected from herbivory, and plant distributions and characteristics (e.g., flowering frequency) along gradients of deer abundance has identified sets of indicator plant species sensitive to high deer populations (Russell et al 2001, Kirschbaum and Anacker 2005, Jenkins and Howard 2021). Examples of indicator plants widely applicable in eastern North American forests include certain species of tree seedlings, several species in the Liliaceae family, and certain groups of forbs not necessarily most palatable to deer but that commonly decline where deer are abundant (Williams et al 2000, Frankland and Nelson 2003, Shelton et al 2014).…”

Section: Studya Location Pre‐cull (Deer/km2) Post‐cull (Deer/km2) Dur...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two of the main strategies for managing abundant deer on contemporary landscapes in an ecological management context include constructing fencing to exclude deer from variously sized areas (exclosures) and regulating deer populations via culling through controlled hunting (Ward and Williams 2020, Jenkins and Howard 2021, Nagy et al 2022). Exclosures provide deer‐free refugia and express plant community change in the absence of deer herbivory (Russell et al 2001).…”

Section: Studya Location Pre‐cull (Deer/km2) Post‐cull (Deer/km2) Dur...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid increase in sensitive indicator plants concurrent with deer management in an oak forest landscape

Abella

Schetter

Gallaher

2022

Wildlife Society Bulletin

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Wildlife managers are implementing programs to reduce abundant populations of large herbivores, such as white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in eastern North America, with renewed research interest in understanding these programs' ecological effects. To examine plant community change following culling of white‐tailed deer in oak (Quercus spp.) forests in Ohio, USA, we measured browse severity on tree seedlings and cover of 43 deer‐sensitive, native indicator plant species across 20 years spanning pre‐ (2002–2015) and post‐ (2016–2021) deer culling periods. After culling halved deer abundance from 16.7 deer/km2 to 8.6 deer/km2, browse patterns on tree seedlings reversed from most seedlings exhibiting browse damage to most being undamaged. Cover of deer‐sensitive indicator plants increased 7‐fold in the 6 years after deer culling. Five of 6 indicator plant groups (e.g., Liliaceae) and 32 of 43 indicator species (74%) increased in cover after deer culling. Rhizomatous, clonally reproducing and early flowering (May–Jun) species were generally most responsive. The rapid increase in deer‐sensitive plants after deer culling in our study is among the fastest and largest reported among eastern North American studies. The plant community resilience observed in this study could partly relate to the relatively short duration (~10 yr) that deer populations were elevated before culling began, allowing persistence of local plant regeneration potential. Deer culling enabled a moderate deer population to coexist with a rising sensitive plant population.

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Forest Vegetation Response to White-Tailed Deer Population Reductions in a Large Urban Park

Cited by 8 publications

References 47 publications

Less is more: vegetation changes coincide with white‐tailed deer suppression over thirty years

Less is more: vegetation changes coincide with white‐tailed deer suppression over thirty years

Overabundant deer and invasive plants drive widespread regeneration debt in eastern United States national parks

Rapid increase in sensitive indicator plants concurrent with deer management in an oak forest landscape

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