Habitat Improvement Services

call 215 651 8329 http://www.huntingrelics.com http://www.seedlingsrus.com "Trees such as hemlock, yellow birch, cedar, and Canada yew are species that often have a hard time regenerating, even under good conditions," said Peczynski. "Providing fences eliminates one of the impediments of their successful regeneration - deer herbivory."

To date, eight deer exclosures of various sizes ranging from 0.5 - 2.5 acres have been built on the District in hardwood stands where mature hemlock and yellow birch are already present. Metal T-posts, combined with either plastic deer fence or steel field fence, are used in the construction of the exclosures. The height of the fences range from 6.5 - 7.5 feet and 600 - 1,320 feet of fence are used per exclosure.

Peczynski is pleased about the regeneration effort and hopes to construct more exclosures in the future. He is looking at building exclosures in canopy gaps around the District not to only prevent deer from eating cedar, hemlock, Canada yew, and yellow birch, but also to protect naturally regenerated white ash and basswood. Ash and basswood are shade-intolerant species and are rarely seen regenerating outside of canopy gaps or other large open areas in the Forest.

"Fencing improves the survival of seedlings and saplings, but there is still some mortality occurring from other causes such as excessive shade, dry site conditions, competition for other vegetation, and in some cases, rodent damage," Pecynski added.

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