Once at devastatingly low population levels, white-tail deer repopulated with the help of hunting regulations and overprotection. This was a success in terms of conservation, but it was not long after its revival that the deer population kept rising to reach unmanageable numbers. Without natural predators like wild dogs and coyotes, white-tail deer are now destroying forest habitat and endangering the lives of other animals. A question my professor likes to ask is, “should we manage the deer for the forest or the forest for the deer?” The answer to this interesting question is the former; the deer need to be managed for the forest. If this is not done, our forests are going to undergo drastic changes, which will affect the plants and wildlife. Although I have experience in studying deer in New York State, I am going to discuss some impacts the deer diet has on the forest in general without concentrating on New York in particular. Some numbers and dates that are mentioned and additional information can be found in a report of a deer management forum: http://pa.audubon.org/deer_report.html

Deer eating habits, or deer browsing, include plants low to the ground that are green and soft, which usually are the seedlings of trees that are trying to grow and regenerate the forest. Deer also fill up on acorns and rely on the acorns to give them enough fat reserve to survive during cold winters. These facts alone portray the devastating effect deer have on Oaks and other hardwood trees by prohibiting the growth of new trees and eating the fruit created by existing trees. There are some plants and trees not preferred by deer. These include hay-scented ferns, New York ferns, striped maple trees, and American beech trees. As white-tails reduce the amount of oak trees and leave these other species alone, the dominant trees and plants in the forest will change, which is also known as an alteration in species composition. There will become more trees and plants that the deer do not like and less of or no more of those that the deer eat. The tree seedlings that deer do not eat are ones that will not grow into as large of trees and the oaks preferred by deer. When the species composition changes, the forest canopy will be less dense, allowing more sunlight and wind to reach the forest floor. When this happens, the humidity is decreased, which negatively affects the animals that live in moist areas. In addition, the crop that deer eat affects other animals such as wild-turkey, blue jays, gray squirrels, and white-footed mice.

It is in these ways mentioned above that deer reduce species composition of the forest plants and animals and prohibit regeneration of the forest. This is simply a general overview of the effect of white-tail deer browsing on forest animals and plants. Anyone who owns a garden also knows that deer affect gardens and the plants on people’s properties as well as the forest. I hope this gets people thinking about the complicated relationship between nature and deer as well as the need for deer management. Information and examples of deer management techniques will be the topic of upcoming posts.