CRB: Effects of Landscape Management and Deer Abundance on Plant Community and Species Diversity

CRB：景观管理和鹿数量对植物群落和物种多样性的影响

• 批准号: 9000102
• 负责人: Donald Waller
• 金额: $ 14.01万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1990
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1990-06-15 至 1993-01-21
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9000102&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CRB; Effects; Landscape; Management; Deer

Traditional forestry practices in the Northeast have led to the dispersion of forest openings and scattered clear cuts throughout large regions. The result is a fine-scaled mosaic of young and older forests. Such fragmentation has also created large amounts of "edge" habitat, purposefully constructed to boost populations of White-tailed Deer and other game species. These efforts have succeeded in boosting deer populations far beyond presettlement densities to the point where browsing by deer now appears to threaten plant species diversity by preventing the recruitment and regeneration of certain gymnosperms and associated herbaceous species. We propose to use existing long-term deer and plant survey data and the presence of areas of reduced deer density to test hypotheses concerning the impacts of deer browsing on species diversity and community composition and dynamics. We will also compare the size and age structure and community composition of forest stands dominated by Eastern Hemlock and White Cedar among areas that vary in deer density. Finally, we will use experiments to test the direct and indirect effects of deer browsing. Results from this study are needed to document this new type of edge effect and to design practical patterns of forest use compatible with maintaining the original species and community diversity of northern forests. Such analyses will allow implementation of appropriate conservation strategies.

东北部的传统林业做法导致了 森林开口的分散和分散的皆伐 在广大地区。 其结果是一个精细的马赛克， 年轻和古老的森林 这种分裂也造成了 大量有目的地建造的“边缘”栖息地， 增加白尾鹿和其他狩猎物种的数量。 这些努力成功地使鹿的数量大大增加， 超越了定居密度， 鹿现在似乎威胁到植物物种的多样性， 防止招募和再生某些 裸子植物和相关的草本物种。 我们建议使用 现有的长期鹿和植物调查数据以及 鹿密度减少的地区，以检验有关 鹿类取食对物种多样性和群落的影响 组成和动态。 我们还将比较 林分的结构和群落组成， 东部铁杉和白色雪松之间的地区，在鹿的变化 密度的 最后，我们将通过实验来测试直接和 鹿吃草的间接影响。 这项研究的结果是 需要记录这种新型的边缘效应， 与维持森林的可持续性相一致的森林使用的实际模式 北方森林的原生种和群落多样性。 这些分析将有助于实施适当的 保护战略。