Oh, Deer: How Do Aspen Trees Survive Herbivory?

A White-tailed deer browsing in Duluth, Minnesota (Photo: DPR, 2012)

Because of their relative immobility, plants are often perceived as being largely defenseless against predators. This couldn't be further from the truth. Anyone who's watched Journey to the Center of the Earth or Jumanji has seen exaggerated fictional depictions of such plants as the Venus Flytrap or the Pitcher plant. But even these striking examples miss the more common, albeit much more subtle, mechanisms of plant defense. The goal of my graduate research over the next couple of years is to elucidate the joint costs and benefits, as well as the ecological implications of what we believe to be a multivariate defense system in aspen trees towards mammalian herbivores. Specifically, I will be examining how Quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) balance three defense traits (resistance, tolerance, and escape) to survive herbivory by White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) at various stages in their life cycle. If they spoke English, I'm sure the deer would tell you that plants do, indeed, have active defense systems. Although, if you've ever gotten tangled in poison ivy, you should already know this!