Underplanting in slash reduces first-year browse damage in a central hardwood forest

Ungulate herbivory damage presents challenges to forest management in many regions and often requires mitigation to meet objectives. Under certain conditions, logging slash can exclude ungulates and provide refuge for tree seedlings. We underplanted clusters of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and white oak (Quercus alba L.) seedlings within slash and in adjacent openings and monitored herbivory damage and seedling growth during the first growing season following an operational cutto-length partial timber harvest in Kentucky, USA. By planting in slash, the odds of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) browse damage decreased by a factor of 12. Oaks were 3 ± 1 cm taller in slash plantings than in non-slash plantings. Slash height and openness best predicted probability of deer browse damage, with tall, dense slash affording the greatest protection. Planting in operationally created slash provided at least short-term advantages to seedling growth potential in areas with high deer density. Further work is needed to determine slash decay rates and the concomitant changes in exclusion efficacy after year 1.