West Virginia Potomac Tributary Strategy

Forested Riparian Buffer Demonstration Projects

2nd & 3rd Year Results Update: 2006 - 2007

Click here for first year results and pictures

Up to home page for WVPTS Demonstration Projects.

June 2007.  Deer exclusion fencing experiment being conducted at the Yellow Spring site is designed to test an innovative and relatively low cost method to protect riparian forest plantings from destructive or even catastrophic damage from deer browsing activities.

Riparian planting at Yellow Spring, WV

 (site pics here)

The first site selected for this demonstration project was near Yellow Spring in Hampshire County, along the banks of the Cacapon River.  This site has, sadly, been a highly visible demonstration of how difficult it is to establish trees in this area.  Saplings were planted and replaced repeatedly at this site in the mid-1990s  and few, if any, survived

Mostly native hardwood trees were planted in April 2005 on a 20' X 20' spacing, and shrubs and smaller trees were planted on a 12' X 12' spacing.  Each plant has a weed mat to reduce competition and retain moisture.  All saplings were planted in tubes, primarily for protection from browsing. 

On June 7 2006, CI conducted a thorough assessment of the condition of this riparian planting.  This site has heavy "weed" growth that makes it difficult to find all of the plantings (yes, even with tubes); however, unlike the rapid assessment in 2005, in 2006 we attempted to find all of the plants.  Overall survival, as indicated by living leaves seen on a plant, dropped from 93% in 2005 to 72% in 2006.  

Living trees and shrubs that were poking above the tops of tubes (trees in 4' tubes and shrubs and smaller trees in 2' tubes) were assessed for signs of recent browse damage.  56% exhibited browse damage in 2005, while 42% exhibited browse damage in 2006.  67% of the trees poking out of 4' tubes had been browsed.  However, quite a few of the living plants that were not recently browsed were stunted, some severely, and many of these showed signs of browse and dieback from last year.

On September 6, 2006,CO conducted another assessment.  All the conditions of the site were as noted above for 6/7/2006.  Survival dropped a bit to 68% since June.  The big change was in the browse rate, which was a very high 91%.  Also as in June, most of the living plants that were not recently browsed were stunted, some severely.

In early 2007, the Yellow Spring site was selected for an experimental deer exclusion fence study.  This changed the site sufficiently that continued monitoring per the above protocol above was discontinued.  You can see what has happened at the site after 2006 by clicking here.

Riparian planting along the South Branch (site pics here)

The second site is located along the South Branch of the Potomac River downstream of Romney, WV.  The stream was fenced in the late 1990s by the US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners with Wildlife program.  The landowners hoped that substantial natural tree recruitment would occur at the site over time, but it has not.  

Native hardwood trees were planted in April 2005 more or less on a 20' X 20' spacing, and shrubs and smaller trees were planted on a 12' X 12' spacing.  At the South Branch site, half of the trees and shrubs were planted with tubes and half without to assess relative success and survival.  All were planted with weedmats.

On 6/14/2006, 6/14/2007, and 10/4/2007,  CI staff and Alana Hartman (WVDEP, Potomac Basin Coordinator) conducted thorough assessments of this riparian planting.  This site has heavy "weed" growth that makes it difficult to find many of the plants; however, unlike the rapid assessment conducted in 2005, in 2006 we attempted to find everything.  This was very difficult with the no-tube plantings and we certainly did not find them all.  Living trees and shrubs that were poking above the tops of tubes (trees in 4' tubes and shrubs and smaller trees in 2' tubes) were assessed for signs of recent browse damage. 

Results of "tube" plantings.  Overall survival, as indicated by living leaves seen on a plant, dropped from 81% in 2005 to 79% in June 2006. to 77% in June 2007, to 69% in October 2007.  Percentage of trees with recent browse damage varied tremendously, but was much higher in the fall than the spring.  However, recent browse damage is only part of the story, because almost every living plant that had not been recently browsed was severely stunted and showed signs of past browsing events.

Results of "no-tube" plantings.  Plants without tubes (weedmats only) fared much more poorly.  Overall survival at plant sites that could be found, as indicated by living leaves seen on a plant, dropped from 48% in 2005 to 41% in June 2006. to 34% in June 2007, to 25% in October 2007. Percentage of trees with recent browse damage varied tremendously, but was much higher in the fall than the spring.  However, recent browse damage is only part of the story, because almost every living plant that had not been recently browsed was severely stunted and showed signs of past browsing events.

Of the surviving no-tube plants, most are of one species - Washington Hawthorne (Crataegus phaenopyrum).  This seems to be the only species of the eleven species planted that can withstand repeated deer browsing. 

We noticed some natural recruitment of ash, hickory, locust, cherry, and maple tree seedlings - but have little hope for their survival.