White-tailed deer browse on an invasive shrub with extended leaf phenology meets assumptions of an apparent competition hypothesis.

It has been hypothesized that invasive plant species with extended leaf phenology (ELP) elevate generalist herbivore populations, increasing herbivory on native plants (apparent competition). This hypothesis assumes that consumption of the invasive is associated with periods of ELP, the invasive is a major component of the herbivore's diet, and that it is more nutritious than native plants during periods of ELP. We tested these assumptions by estimating the proportion of the white-tailed deer diet comprised of , an invasive shrub with ELP, quantifying the seasonal pattern of deer browse on this invasive shrub, and comparing its nutritional quality to leafless woody stems. In the Miami University Natural Areas in southwest Ohio we quantified the frequency of leafy twigs of woody species 0.3-2.1 m high in three habitats (deciduous forest, forest, and forest-field edge). Monthly we quantified deer browse on marked twigs, and estimated the mass of leaf and stem tissue consumed with allometric relationships using diameter and length of unbrowsed twig portions. We estimated the percent of the annual deer diet comprised of by dividing the sum of these estimates by the product of deer abundance (estimated by pellet-based distance sampling) and consumption estimates from the literature. Crude protein of stems and leaves was determined by C:N analyser. In each habitat the frequency of was greater than all other woody species combined. We estimated comprised 14-47 % of the annual deer diet. Deer browsed each month, but consumption was high in early spring and late summer. Crude protein of leafy twigs of in early spring was 12.9 %, much higher than leafless twigs of native species on-site. These findings support the assumptions of the hypothesis that invasive plants with ELP impact native plants via deer-mediated apparent competition.