deer2 - The University of Notre Dame Effects of...

The University of Notre Dame
Effects of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) on Plants, Plant Populations and
Communities: A Review
Author(s): F. Leland Russell, David B. Zippin and Norma L. Fowler
Source: American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 146, No. 1 (Jul., 2001), pp. 1-26
Published by: The University of Notre Dame
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The American Midland Naturalist
Published
Quarterly by
The
University
of Notre Dame, Notre
Dame,
Indiana
Vol. 146
July,
2001 No. 1
Am. Midi. Nat. 146:1-26
Effects of White-tailed Deer
(Odocoileus
virginianus)
on
Plants,
Plant
Populations
and Communities: A Review
F. LELAND
RUSSELL1,2,
DAVID B. ZIPPIN
AND
NORMA L. FOWLER
Integrative Biology,
School
of Biological
Sciences,
The
University of
Texas at
Austin,
Austin 78712
ABSTRACT.-Large
effects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus
virginianus) upon
individual
plants, plant populations
and communities have been documented in a number of studies.
However, well-supported experimental
measures of the
magnitude
and
geographical
extent
of these effects are still
surprisingly
scarce. Deer-caused
changes
in stem
morphology
and
reductions in
plant growth
rates are well-documented in some
parts
of the North America.
Furthermore, deer have been shown to affect the
composition
of several
plant
communities
in the north-central and northeastern United States. There are some documented cases of
deer-caused reductions in
plant
survival;
most of these are tree
seedlings
and
saplings.
How-
ever, many
studies have detected no effects on
plant
survival or
fecundity,
or have found
that
negative
effects occur
only
in a fraction of
years,
seasons, sites or deer densities. Little
is known about
population-level
or
ecosystem-level impacts. Many regions
and
plant
com-
munities with
large
deer
populations
have not been studied. Whereas deer
density
is
clearly
important
in
determining spatial
and
temporal
variation in the
presence
and
magnitude
of
deer effects, other factors that may
modify
the effects of deer
density
are
poorly
understood.