![]() ![]() With repeated browsing, plants shrink, have lower seed production and eventually die (2,3,4). When deer eat reproductive plants, they destroy the seeds (1). Scientific research has demonstrated that the effect of over browse by white-tailed deer is overwhelmingly negative and can quickly lead to a depauperate understory. Deer do not particularly prefer ginseng over other plants, but deer will eat ginseng if they are in the same area ( Fig. It is important to reach a proper balance between desired habitat conditions and deer populations.Less visible, but still serious, are the many ways that deer impact natural plant populations, including ginseng. Habitat repeatedly damaged by over-browsing continues to decline, losing its ability to support additional deer and other wildlife. They support healthy understories, preparing the forest for future replacement following natural tree mortality or planned timber harvests. The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) helps landowners meet their forest management goals by allowing hunters to harvest additional antlerless deer from a property during the regular hunting seasons.Īreas with low deer browsing pressure provide diverse wildlife habitats. You may also consider harvesting additional antlerless deer. Protecting tree seedlings ensures that you have healthy trees for the future while steering deer towards other food sources. Although costly, fencing can be constructed around individual trees or larger areas several acres in size. Knowing which species are being browsed can also give you insight into which methods can be used to protect seedlings. If oaks can never make it from acorn, to seedling, to sapling, to healthy mature tree, the habitat quality for deer can suffer in the long term as oaks are replaced by other, potentially less desirable, species. In these good crop years, acorns can make up the majority of a deer’s diet in the late fall. Second, acorn crops only occur every two to five years and truly “bumper” crops much less often. First, it can take over thirty years for an oak tree to produce acorns. As an example, consider a browse-sensitive species like oak. To have a healthy woodland, tree seedlings need to develop into healthy, mature trees. As a result, we see these species dominating the forest understory in many areas. Deer do not readily eat species like ferns, striped maple, beech, ironwood, mountain laurel, blueberry, and spicebush. Another sign may include the presence of seedlings that are severely hedged and not able to grow above 1-foot in height, as well as understories dominated by species that deer avoid. More evidence of deer browse impacts is the presence of a browse line on all understory trees, where there are no green branches until about five or six feet up. Deer avoid browsing these plants because they are not as digestible compared to other vegetation. ![]() Evidence of high deer populations can be seen in a woodland that is dominated by beech brush, striped maple, black birch, black cherry, mountain laurel, ferns (primarily hayscented and New York) and invasive exotic plants. ![]() So what does it mean if deer are browsing beech seedlings/sprouts? Likely that deer are getting desperate and other food sources are limited. If there are high populations of deer in an area, preferred plants will see more browsing which can lead to other plants, that deer don’t prefer, taking over. Deer will start by browsing the most preferred or palatable trees first. While deer prefer these tree species, they also avoid certain plants. As you move north, species like maple (red and sugar), white ash, and basswood become more preferred species where they are more abundant. Red and white oaks are two of the primary hardwood species that deer prefer to browse, while blackgum, hickory, and yellow poplar are also very high on the preference list. In Pennsylvania, tree species that rank high on a deer’s list include a number of hardwood trees. Knowing which tree seedlings are growing in your woods and which ones are browsed can give you more details on a deer’s diet. Over decades, deer populations can greatly impact the look of woodlands. Too much browsing pressure, eating twigs and young shoots, from deer can kill or limit the growth of tree seedlings, a fact that foresters and woodland owners know very well. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |