Improving Coastal Plain Hardwoods for Deer and Turkeys with Canopy Reduction and Fire.

Prescribed fire and canopy reduction are accepted forest management practices used to increase forage and cover for white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in pine systems throughout the southeastern United States. However, use of prescribed fire to improve conditions for deer and turkeys has not been evaluated in upland hardwood forests of the Coastal Plain, and some land managers remain skeptical of the utility of fire in this ecoregion. We designed a manipulative experiment to measure deer and turkey habitat components following canopy reduction and prescribed fire in 4 upland hardwood stands in the Coastal Plain of Alabama, USA, during 2018 and 2019. Specifically, we used herbicide to kill trees with low value to deer and turkeys and retained oaks (Quercus spp.) and other species considered important as part of a forest stand improvement (FSI) operation to reduce canopy coverage. We then applied low‐intensity prescribed fire to half of each treatment unit. One unit in each replicate served as a control. We measured total understory plant coverage, biomass of deer forage, and turkey brooding cover for 2 years following canopy reduction and one year after fire. Coverage of herbaceous plants increased by 134% in FSI/Burn, and coverage of woody and semiwoody plants increased by 33% and 97%, respectively, following FSI only. Deer forage biomass was greater in both FSI and FSI/Burn compared to control, but there was no difference in deer forage biomass between FSI and FSI/Burn. FSI/Burn provided better turkey brooding cover than FSI or control. No overstory trees were killed by fire. We detected minor cambium damage to 13% of water oaks (Quercus nigra) in the FSI/Burn units; other species only showed light bark charring or no sign of burning. We recommend FSI and low‐intensity prescribed fire in Coastal Plain hardwoods to improve brooding cover for turkeys and understory forage for deer while retaining acorn production. © 2020 The Wildlife Society. We applied forest stand improvement and prescribed fire to Coastal Plain hardwoods to evaluate effects on white‐tailed deer forage biomass and wild turkey brooding cover. Our results demonstrate that canopy reduction and fire can be used to increase deer forage biomass and improve structure for turkey broods with minimal damage to retained mast‐producing trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]