Abstract
Abstract We evaluated the impact of long-term over-browsing by white-tailed deer on the diversity and density of trees in a forest in the Allegheny High Plateau region of central Pennsylvania. We compared tree diversity and density inside a 60 year-old deer exclosure to an adjacent reference site. Browsing caused a 55–100% decline in density of four tree species (Prunus serotina, Acer saccharum, Betula lenta, Cornus alternifolia) and created a forest dominated (> 70% of all stems) by Acer pensylvanicum, an understory tree that is known to be highly browse-tolerant. The total density of trees that are capable of ascending into the canopy (i.e., non subcanopy tree species) declined by 85%. Browsing caused a significant decline in both mean species richness and Shannon diversity and created communities that contrasted significantly in tree species composition (ANOSIM, R = 0.8105, P < 0.0001). Our results suggest that long-term over-browsing can create low density, depauperate communities where dominance is...
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