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Effects Of White-Tailed Deer Herbivory On Forest Plant Communities, John Thrift
Effects Of White-Tailed Deer Herbivory On Forest Plant Communities, John Thrift
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ABSTRACT
The impact of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herbivory on forest ecosystems has received more attention as deer populations continue to increase in many areas. We investigated the effects of deer herbivory on plant communities in three different geographic regions to increase the general knowledge of herbivory impacts and also to investigate specific regional effects where research has been lacking.
Twelve exclosures were constructed in clearcut hardwood stands on the Clemson Experimental Forest, SC. Sapling, seedling, and understory species richness (S), Shannon's Diversity Index (H'), and Evenness (J') were compared between exclosures and paired control plots after the first and …