Data from: Historically browsed jewelweed populations exhibit greater tolerance to deer herbivory than historically protected populations

Browsing by overabundant white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has
altered ecological relationships in forest communities across eastern
North America. Recent but limited work suggests that deer browsing also
selects for particular plant defensive traits. We hypothesized that
browsing by deer has imposed selection on defensive traits in an annual
native wildflower, orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis). To test this
hypothesis, we collected individuals from 26 natural populations across a
5000 km2 area in New York State, USA. Half of these populations were
historically protected from deer and half were exposed to heavy browsing.
We planted individuals in common gardens subjected to natural deer
browsing or no browsing. Individuals from historically browsed populations
exhibited significantly higher tolerance than those from historically
protected populations. Herbivory by deer reduced lifetime fruit production
by only 20% in historically browsed populations, as opposed to 57% in
historically protected populations. Two mechanisms were correlated with
this increased tolerance: increased number of flowering days and increased
fruits per flowering node. Synthesis The increased tolerance of
historically browsed populations suggests that these populations evolved
increased tolerance or that historically protected populations lost
tolerance over time. Variation in tolerance traits in native plant species
may allow them to persist in the face of rapid ecological change.