Indirect Effects of a Keystone Herbivore Elevate Local Animal Diversity

• Published in: The Journal of wildlife management Vol. 72; no. 6; pp. 1318 - 1321
• Main Authors: Greenwald, Katherine R, Petit, Lisa J, Waite, Thomas A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK The Wildlife Society 01.08.2008; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: browsing; Caudata; community ecology; Conservation biology; Deer; Field study; Garters; Gastropoda; ground-dwelling invertebrates; Habitats; Herbivores; herbivory; herpetofauna; Invertebrates; Mammals; Management and Conservation; National parks; Odocoileus virginianus; Ohio; Parks & recreation areas; population density; Salamanders; Snakes; species diversity; Taxa; white-tailed deer; Wildlife management; Ohio; USA, Ohio

We quantified indirect effects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on ground-dwelling herpetofauna and invertebrates in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio, USA. We placed cover boards at 12 sites, each consisting of a 10 × 10-m fenced (exclosure) plot and an unfenced (control) plot. Perio...