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Full-Text Articles in Plant Sciences
10. Browsing By White-Tailed Deer On Invasive Oriental Bittersweet Spreading Into Restored Grasslands, Neal Mundahl, Bruno Borsari
10. Browsing By White-Tailed Deer On Invasive Oriental Bittersweet Spreading Into Restored Grasslands, Neal Mundahl, Bruno Borsari
North American Prairie Conference Proceedings
Non-native oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.) was first detected in southeastern Minnesota in 2010 and has spread from woodlands into adjacent grasslands. Anecdotal evidence suggests that browsing by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on young oriental bittersweet slows the growth and spread of this plant. This study assessed the population characteristics of density, age structure, growth rate, and branching morphology of oriental bittersweet in small, restored grasslands (mixed native grasses and forbs) in Winona County, Minnesota, and quantified the browsing damage inflicted by white-tailed deer on bittersweet and native red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) at the end of winter. Bittersweet densities …