Spatial correlations between browsing on balsam fir by white-tailed deer and the nutritional value of neighboring winter forage.

ABSTRACT: Associational effects, that is, the influence of neighboring plants on herbivory suffered by a plant, are an outcome of forage selection. Although forage selection is a hierarchical process, few studies have investigated associational effects at multiple spatial scales. Because the nutritional quality of plants can be spatially structured, it might differently influence associational effects across multiple scales. Our objective was to determine the radius of influence of neighbor density and nutritional quality on balsam fir (Abies balsamea) herbivory by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in winter. We quantified browsing rates on fir and the density and quality of neighboring trees in a series of 10-year-old cutovers on Anticosti Island (Canada). We used cross-corre

SUBMITTER: Champagne E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5838068 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature