Managing White-tailed Deer in Forest Habitat From an Ecosystem Perspective

Deer play a role in ecosystems, particularly forests, in various ways including: (1) Herbivory or predation on the plants they use as food (2) Altering the physical habitat used by other animal species, plants, and other organisms in the ecosystem (3) Altering plant species composition, richness (diversity), forest structure (see box on page 34), ecological processes, and ecosystem function (4) Competing with other animals that use the same food resources (5) As prey, providing food for large predators Consequently, deer management has implications that go far beyond recreational hunting.

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