Title
Effects of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Browsing and Prescribed Burns on Seedlings and Saplings in Itasca State Park, Minnesota
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to determine if white-tailed deer browsing or prescribed burning had an effect on seedlings and saplings in Itasca State Park. There were four study sites located in the park: Mary
Lake Unburned Exclosure, Wildness Drive Burned Exclosure, Wildness Drive Burned Area and Wildness Drive Unburned Area. It was
hypothesized that the highest abundance of seedlings and saplings would be at the
Wilderness Drive Burned Exclosure and the lowest abundance at Wilderness Drive Unburned Area. The data showed no correlation between abundance of deer scat and abundance of seedlings but there is a positive correlation between deer scat and
abundance of saplings. This could be due in part to the fact that the deer exclosures did
not completely exclude deer. The data showed no correlation between seedlings and saplings between burned sites and between unburned sites. Pine regeneration was not
significant in the study transects but it was noted that there were white pine seedlings present at each site.
Series/Report Number
Itasca Biological Station Student Papers
Description
Student paper, BIOL 3807, 2009
Suggested Citation
Cosgrove, Angela; Kopp, Jason; Wallace, Courtney.
(2010).
Effects of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Browsing and Prescribed Burns on Seedlings and Saplings in Itasca State Park, Minnesota.
Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy,
https://hdl.handle.net/11299/60320.