DOI: 10.5061/dryad.4qrfj6qmk
title: Data from: White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) exclusion shifts soil carbon dynamics in mature oak-dominated and hemlock-dominated forest stands

description: While the direct effects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on
 vegetation have been intensively studied, less is known about the indirect
 and interactive effects of herbivory on lower trophic levels, such as soil
 microbes and their processing of carbon pools. We explored how carbon
 dynamics shift with release from over-browsing by white-tailed deer in two
 mature stands of oak and hemlock trees. We measured soil carbon pools
 (e.g., soil organic matter, carbon stocks, litter biomass, and litter
 stabilization) and fluxes (e.g., soil respiration, methane uptake,
 microbial substrate use, and litter decomposition) using a spatially
 balanced survey design inside and outside two 24-year-old deer exclosures,
 one in each forest stand. Soil carbon pools were higher inside the
 exclosures than in deer-browsed plots in both forest stands, but the
 effect of deer herbivory on fine-scale spatial patterning of soil carbon
 pools and mean carbon fluxes varied by forest type. Release from deer
 herbivory in the oak stand increased the patchiness of soil pools and led
 to higher litter decomposition, soil respiration, and methane uptake
 rates. Release from deer herbivory in the hemlock stand did not affect the
 spatial structure of soil pools, had little effect on methane uptake, and
 had negative effects on litter decomposition and soil respiration. These
 differences may be due in part to the interactive effects of two
 herbivores, deer and the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae), that
 appear to be limiting regeneration and promoting the proliferation of
 monodominant hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula) in the
 hemlock-dominated stand. Our work suggests that future efforts consider
 multiple zoogeochemical stressors simultaneously, in addition to variation
 in environmental templates, to explain uncertainties in carbon pools and
 fluxes in temperate forested ecosystems.
description: The attached files contain data collected inside and outside two
 deer exclosures at Lacawac Sanctuary in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, USA.
 Exclosures were established in 1995 in a mature oak-dominated stand and a
 mature hemlock-dominated stand. These data were used for all analyses
 (e.g., differences in spatial resource distribution and mean-stand level
 differences) conducted in the publication, “White-tailed deer
 (<em>Odocoileus virginianus</em>) exclusion shifts soil carbon
 dynamics in mature oak-dominated and hemlock-dominated forest stands.”
 Files include leaf area index measurements collected in 1997, 2014, and
 2023, vegetation surveys and carbon pool and flux data collected between
 2019 and 2024, and microbial community profiling data (i.e., average
 well-color development at 72 hours and intrinsic rate of increase)
 collected in 2019. A separate metadata file containing a description of
 each data column is included for each dataset. Please see the publication
 for more details.
description: # Data from: White-tailed deer (*Odocoileus virginianus*) exclusion shifts
 soil carbon dynamics in mature oak-dominated and hemlock-dominated forest
 stands
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4qrfj6qmk](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4qrfj6qmk) ## Description of the data and file structure A spatially balanced survey design was used to collect vegetation survey data and carbon pools (*e.g.*, soil organic matter, carbon stocks, litter biomass, and litter stabilization) and fluxes (*e.g.*, soil respiration, methane uptake, microbial substrate use, and litter decomposition) inside and outside two long-term deer exclosures (i.e., four plots). One exclosure was positioned in a mature oak-dominated stand. The other was positioned in a mature hemlock-dominated stand.  ### Files and variables #### Folder: Moon\_et\_al\_2025\_Ecosystems.zip **Description:** This zip folder contains four .csv datasets with complimentary metadata .csv files. Metadata files include a list of all headers with units (if applicable) and a description of each variable in the dataset.  #### File: Moon\_et\_al\_2025\_Ecosystems\_LAI.csv #### Metadata File: Moon\_et\_al\_2025\_Ecosystems\_LAI\_Metadata.csv **Description:** Leaf area index (LAI) data was collected in 1997, 2014, and 2023 using a plant canopy analyzer.  #### File: Moon\_et\_al\_2025\_Ecosystems\_Pools\_Fluxes.csv #### Metadata File: Moon\_et\_al\_2025\_Ecosystems\_Pools\_Fluxes\_Metadata.csv **Description:** Vegetation survey data and soil pool and flux data were collected from 30 sampling points per plot between 2019 and 2024. Missing values are denoted using "NA". #### File: Moon\_et\_al\_2025\_Ecosystems\_AWCD\_72\_Hr.csv #### Metadata File: Moon\_et\_al\_2025\_Ecosystems\_AWCD\_72\_Hr\_Metadata.csv **Description:** Average well-color development at 72 hours was calculated from community-level physiological profiles using BIOLOG Eco-plates. Data was collected from 15 sampling points per plot in 2019.  #### File: Moon\_et\_al\_2025\_Ecosystems\_Kinetics.csv #### Metadata File: Moon\_et\_al\_2025\_Ecosystems\_Kinetics\_Metadata.csv **Description:** Intrinsic growth rates were calculated from community-level physiological profiles using BIOLOG Eco-plates. Data was collected from 15 sampling points per plot in 2019. Only curves with a significant fit (p &lt; 0.05) were retained for data analysis. Missing values are denoted using "NA". ## Code/software N/A ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the data: N/A Data was derived from the following sources: N/A