Effects of an invasive shrub, Lonicera maackii, and a generalist herbivore, white-tailed deer, on forest floor plant community composition

Our findings reveal that deer and L. maackii negatively impact different components of the forest herb layer. However, the combined effects on species richness tended to be antagonistic (less than additive), possibly due to deer browse reducing the cover of this invasive shrub. This suggests that the diversity of the herb layer will be enhanced more by both removal of invasive shrubs and reduction of the deer population than by either management action alone.