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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2010
- Title: Harvesting Affects Ungulate Activity in Surrounding Intact Forest
- Author: Milton T Drott (Franklin and Marshall College)
- Abstract:
In the last twenty years with the reappearance of moose and increase in deer populations in Massachusetts, the need for understanding the impacts of ungulate browsing on forest regeneration has become more pressing. This need is particularly important within and around timber harvests, which have increased greatly in recent decades across the state and often attract browsers. In addition there is some reason to think that parcellization may have reduced the average clearcut size. To assess the effect of harvesting on ungulate activity in surrounding intact forest, we examined browsing intensity and pellet pile densities of moose and deer at increasing distances from clearcuts (0m, 10m, 50m, 90m). In addition, we examined browsing and pellets at nearby interior forest plots that were more than 100 m away from a recent harvest or other clearing. Browsing intensity and pellet piles were compared among the five distance treatments and between “edge” forest sites less than 100 m from a clearcut and “interior” forest sites, more than 100m away from a clearing. Mean browsing intensity was significantly higher within clearcuts than at each of the distances in the surrounding forest, but ungulate activity did not differ by proximity to clearcuts among the forested sites. Browsing intensity and pellet pile density were higher overall in edge sites than in interior sites, although the differences were not quite significant. These results corroborate other studies that have previously documented higher ungulate densities within forest clearings, and our data indicate that the effects of timber harvesting on ungulate activity could be extending beyond cuts into the surrounding 100m of forest. Given these results, there is a need for further study on this question, which has potential implications for the implementation of new forest management practices to decrease the effects of ungulates on forests surrounding harvested areas.
- Research Category: Large Experiments and Permanent Plot Studies
