Black spruce and tamarack are also more tolerant of acidic soils, so soil chemistry could favor them in certain areas over white cedar. I've never seen any evidence of black spruce or tamarack browsing on my land, but it makes a great bedding area. I do see a fair amount of deer browsing on random small plants in my spruce/tamarack swamp. I have a lot of wild cranberries growing there, so I think they might be eating them, but I can't be sure.