Regeneration with red oaks in deer country Photos and narrative by Arlyn Perkey
Why is it necessary to protect regeneration in areas where there is a very high deer population? These 2 photos help explain my answer.
click photo to enlarge
click photo to enlarge
Two acorns were planted in a tree tube in the spring of 2007. Both of them germinated. In the spring of 2009, a tube was placed over one seedling to protect it, while the other seedling was left outside the tube. In the photo taken May 7, 2009, the seedling outside the tube is looking good as its leaves are nicely formed. On the seedling inside the tube, buds are just breaking. By May 22, the deer have intervened with browsing damage. The nice leaves outside the tube are gone. The seedling is starting to break bud a second time to give it another try. Inside the Plantra tree tube, the seedling is protected and leaves are vigorously growing.
click photo to enlarge
On June 5, 2009, the seedling outside the tree tube had established new leaves. Notice the difference in coloration of the recently flushed leaves. This required the red oak seedling to spend valuable resources trying to re-establish itself after being browsed.
Sometime between July 2 and 8, the seedling outside the tree tube was nipped again. The red oak seedling inside the tube is continuing to grow in the protected environment.
click photo to enlarge
click photo to enlarge
Red oak seedlings require abundant sunlight to grow and develop. This is the type of habitat whitetail prefer for browsing. If there are too many deer, exposed seedlings are likely to be repeatedly browsed during the growing season.
At the end of the growing season, on October 19, 2009, the seedling grown outside the tube (see arrow), is still alive, but it has very little foliage to produce food to store for the winter. In contrast, the seedling grown in the Vented Plantra Tree Tube has much greater height and abundant, healthy foliage to produce energy for next year's growth. This illustrates the importance of protecting red oak seedlings in areas where there is heavy growing season browsing.
