Effect on Ecosystem Processes Browsers harvest mostly the young shoots and buds from woody plants. This greatly affects the growth form, and the type of cover below the canopy of trees that exist in a given area. In the photo below, deer have been excluded from the area on the left side, and dense undergrowth has developed in only 2 years. Clearly visible on the outside of the fence, and under the trees in the distance is an absence of limbs and shoots for about 2 meters above the ground. This more open understory allows grass to grow and different communities of animals to move through the area.
Fire serves as a harvesting mechanism also.
It may be used to open up the understory, and reduce the threat of unexpected burning, which can also move through the canopy. The other is long term, longer than a growing season. For many plants these two types of minimized harvesting affect different parts of the developmental schemes. For grasses, the top herbaceous portions die each season and reform. Deciduous trees lose their leaves and regrow them.