ITHACA, N.Y. – When rampant white-tailed deer graze in forests, they prefer to eat native plants over certain unpalatable invasive plants, such as garlic mustard and Japanese stiltgrass. These eating habits lower native plant diversity and abundance, while increasing the proportion of plant communities made up of non-native species, according to a new study.
The findings were published in the open access, online journal AoB Plants. The study pooled data from previous studies conducted at 23 sites across the northeastern U.S.