Understanding How a Keystone Herbivore, White-tailed Deer Impacts Wetland Vegetation Types in Southern Michigan

Abstract

Abstract Over the past few decades white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) densities have increased to levels well above their historic range of variability in many parts of the U.S. Under this condition deer can act as a keystone herbivore in forest ecosystems potentially changing the structure, composition, and productivity of many forest types. White-tailed deer herbivory in habitat types other than forests, such as wetlands, is poorly understood. Our objectives were to quantify white-tailed deer herbivory and evaluate if herbivory impacted plant community composition, structure, and productivity within a landscape dominated by a diversity of wetland vegetation types at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge during 2011 and 2012. We constructed replicated exclosures in three different wetland vegetation types (two perennial marshes, four moist soil units, and three lakeplain prairies) and compared them with areas open to foraging within core and edge areas of each respective wetland type. We quantified...