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.
