ESCAPING HERBIVORY - REFUGE EFFECTS ON THE MORPHOLOGY AND SHOOT DEMOGRAPHY OF THE CLONAL FOREST HERB MAIANTHEMUM CANADENSE

High levels of herbivory can reduce plant growth, reproduction, and ul timately, abundance. I compared the morphology and shoot demography of Maianthemum canadense on large boulder tops, which were inaccessible to white-tailed deer, and on small boulder tops, which are browsed. Ve getative shoots tended to be larger on boulder tops, but there were no differences between large and small boulder tops in internodal rhizom e lengths or branching frequencies. Shoot densities, frequency of occu rrence of flowering shoots, and frequency of flowering shoots within q uadrats were higher on large boulder tops than small boulder tops. Suc h differences were not observed in Oxalis acetosella, a species which is not browsed. Similar patterns have been reported for other forest h erbs throughout the eastern United States from locations where browsin g pressure is great. Refugia may allow browse-sensitive plants to pers ist, albeit at lower densities, in overbrowsed habitats.