Forest management and cervid herbivory data from Western Oregon, USA, 2012

Land management practices often directly alter vegetation structure and composition, but the degree to which ecological processes such as herbivory interact with management to influence biodiversity is less well understood. We hypothesized that intensive forest management and large herbivores have compounding effects on early-seral plant communities and plantation establishment (i.e., tree survival and growth), and the degree of such effects is dependent on the intensity of management practices. We established deer and elk exclosures nested within a manipulated gradient of management intensity replicated at the scale of whole harvest units. Herbivory and herbicide applications interacted to drive vegetation structure, composition and crop-tree establishment, with herbivory effects most evident at intermediate herbicide treatments.