Role of Moose and Deer Browsing in Harvested Forests of Southern New England since 2008

In the past 20 years, moose have spread south from Vermont and New Hampshire and recolonized their pre-historical range limit in southern New England from which they had been extirpated almost 200 years earlier. Intensive moose browsing in the boreal forest has caused declines in forest density and shifts in species composition in some areas, generating considerable interest and concern among foresters, wildlife managers, and ecologists as to how moose, along with white-tailed deer, will impact forest development in this region. Harvard Forest, in collaboration with researchers at the USGS Massachusetts Cooperative Research Unit, initiated a long-term study of the role of moose and deer in SNE forests using experimental enclosures: full enclosure, partial enclosure, and a control plot.过去20年间，驼鹿（moose）从佛蒙特州（Vermont）与新罕布什尔州（New Hampshire）向南扩散，重新恢复了其在新英格兰南部（Southern New England，后文简称SNE）的史前分布范围——该区域的驼鹿种群已于近200年前被彻底局部灭绝。寒温带针叶林（boreal forest）内高强度的驼鹿啃食已导致部分区域林分密度下降与物种组成发生改变，这引发了林务人员、野生动物管理者与生态学家的广泛关注与忧虑，他们关切驼鹿与白尾鹿（white-tailed deer）将如何影响该区域的森林发育。哈佛森林（Harvard Forest）与美国地质调查局（USGS）马萨诸塞合作研究单元的研究人员合作，启动了一项针对SNE森林中驼鹿与鹿类生态作用的长期实验研究，实验设置了三类样地：全围栏样地、半围栏样地与对照样地（control plot）。