The influence of white-tailed deer on plant communities in West Virginia and stakeholder attitudes toward deer management with respect to plant conservation

Abstract

The influence of white-tailed deer on plant communities in West Virginia and stakeholder attitudes toward deer management with respect to plant conservation Kelley L. Flaherty vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank Dr. James Anderson for his continued support and seemingly never-ending patience throughout my time at WVU. The opportunities and guidance he has provided over the years have been invaluable at the beginning of my teaching career. I also thank the committee members; Dr. James Crum, Dr. John Edwards, Dr. James Rentch, and Dr. Robert Whyte for their support, advice, and motivation. I thank the following people for their assistance in the field during the duration of my data collection;

Wetland seed dispersal by white-tailed deer in a large freshwater wetland complex

“…Canaan Valley encompasses ~176 km 2 (17600 ha) of land. Approximately 20 % of the land area is made up of various wetland community types and another 23 % is northern hardwood forest ( Flaherty 2014 ). Of all the high-elevation wetlands in West Virginia, Canaan Valley is home to the largest contiguous wetland complex (3000 ha; Byers et al 2007 ).…”

“…In 2005, we collected pellet piles from along three 300 m transects through both herbaceous, shrub and forested wetlands within the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge and Canaan Valley State Park. In 2006, six additional wetland transects were added for a total of nine transects at sampling locations within the refuge and state park ( Flaherty 2014 ). We located transect near known deer tails to increase the opportunities to collect fresh samples.…”