Deer forage in a loblolly pine plantation

Abstract

Browse yields in a 30-year-old plantation thinned at ages 20 and 25 years were directly related to the amount of pine removed and varied from 154 lb (oven-dry) per acre under light thinning to 199 lb/acre under heavy thinning. At plantation age 35, five growing seasons after a third thinning, browse yields were inversely related to pine-thinning intensity, ranging from 255 lb/acre in lightly thinned stands to 195 lb/acre in those heavily thinned. Many of the young hardwoods and shrubs had grown beyond the reach of deer and formed a multilayered midstory that inhibited plant growth beneath. Midstory density increased with intensity of pine thinning.

Citation

Blair, Robert M. 1967. Deer forage in a loblolly pine plantation. Journal of Wildlife Management. 31(3): 432-437.