Short-term effects of reduced white-tailed deer density on insect communities in a strongly overbrowsed boreal forest ecosystem
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Published source details
Brousseau P.-M., Hébert C., Cloutier C. & Côté S.D. (2013) Short-term effects of reduced white-tailed deer density on insect communities in a strongly overbrowsed boreal forest ecosystem. Biodiversity and Conservation, 22, 77-92.
Published source details Brousseau P.-M., Hébert C., Cloutier C. & Côté S.D. (2013) Short-term effects of reduced white-tailed deer density on insect communities in a strongly overbrowsed boreal forest ecosystem. Biodiversity and Conservation, 22, 77-92.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Remove, control or exclude vertebrate herbivores Action Link |
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Remove, control or exclude vertebrate herbivores
A replicated, controlled study in 2001–2007 on a forested island in Quebec, Canada (Brousseau et al. 2013) found that reducing invasive white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus density increased the total species richness of macro-moths, and the abundance of rare nocturnal macro-moths, but not total macro-moth abundance. The total species richness of macro-moths, and the abundance of rare species, in areas with no deer (richness: 34 species/exclosure; abundance: 84 individuals) or reduced deer density (7.5–15 deer/km2: richness: 36 species/exclosure; abundance: 86–113 individuals) was higher than in areas where deer were not controlled (richness: 21 species/exclosure; abundance: 12 individuals). However, the total abundance of macro-moths did not differ significantly between sites (no deer: 113; 7.5 deer/km2: 139; 15 deer/km2: 122; uncontrolled: 87 individuals/exclosure). In 2001, fenced deer exclosures were built at three sites across a 7,943-km2 island. From 2002–2007, at each site, all deer were removed from a 10-ha exclosure (0 deer/km2), and three deer were stocked in both a 40-ha (7.5 deer/km2) and a 20-ha (15 deer/km2) exclosure from early spring to late autumn. An adjacent area with uncontrolled deer (26–57 deer/km2) was also monitored at each site. Within each exclosure, 70% of the area was harvested for timber just prior to construction in 2001. From June–August 2007, moths were sampled over five 3-day periods, using two Luminoc® traps/exclosure (>100 m apart). Traps were placed 3 m high and fitted with a 1.8 W blue light tube and Vapona® strips.
(Summarised by: Andrew Bladon)
Output references
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