EFFECTS OF DEER BROWSING, FABRIC MATS, AND TREE SHELTERS ON QUERCUS-RUBRA SEEDLINGS

We examined the effects of deer browsing, fabric mats, and tree shelte rs on the growth and survival of Quercus rubra (northern red oak) seed lings planted as part of a reforestation project in southcentral Minne sota. Browsing by white-tailed deer occurred on 68.6% of the seedlings growing without tree shelters, whereas only 3.6% of the trees were br owsed by mice or voles and 2.5% were browsed by rabbits. Fabric mats, used to control competition from herbaceous plants for roughly half of the seedlings included in the study, had a detrimental effect overall . Seedlings grown with mats had a greater frequency of deer browsing a nd a greater chance of dying than seedlings grown without mats. Stem h eight for seedlings browsed by deer was less overall than for nonbrows ed seedlings, although this pattern varied with use of fabric mats and plot location. The use of plastic tree shelters effectively prevented deer browsing and reduced the mortality rate from 34.6% to 3.2%. Our results indicate that fabric mats should not be used in restoration pr ojects with large deer populations. They also suggest that planting se edlings away from existing forest edges and using seedling protection measures such as tree shelters will increase seedling survival and gro wth in future restoration projects.