Quantity and quality of Japanese honeysuckle on Arkansas Ozark food plots

Abstract

In the spring of 1968 Japanese honeysuckle was planted on four wildlife food plots in the Arkansas Ozarks. Two years later, with moderate fertilization and occasional mowing, this evergreen species produced 239 ovendry pounds of winter forage per acre, 12 times more than the surrounding forest. The nutrient quality of leaves was consistently high throughout the year. Leaves retained through the winter contained about 14 percent crude protein, more than eastern redcedar, flowering dogwood twigs, panic grasses, and pussytoes, the most common native forages eaten by deer during the winter. Honeysuckle leaves were more digestible than any native forage. Since honeysuckle was not browsed heavily by deer until mid-winter, most current annual growth was available after mast had been eaten and when green forage was scarce.

Citation

Segelquist, Charles A.; Rogers, Mitch; Ward, Fred D. 1972. Quantity and quality of Japanese honeysuckle on Arkansas Ozark food plots. In: Webb, James W., ed. Proceedings of the twenty-fifth annual conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies; 1971 October 17-20; Charleston, SC. Columbia, SC: Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies: 47-53.