BLOG: Deer Oh Dear!

In the northeast, deer can be seen everywhere: backyards, roads, parks, and the limited forest. Although we are used to having them around, few are aware of the impact deer are currently having on northeast ecosystems because of human disturbance.

“Researchers from the University of Miami and University of Pittsburgh conclude that excess deer facilitate population explosion of exotic plants while suppressing populations of native plants.”

Natural predators for deer, like wolves and mountain lions, have largely been hunted or relocated by humans. Greenspace has also shrunk as suburban and urban areas expanded into forests once inhabited by native animals and plants that supported and maintained each other. 

An unfortunate, but unsurprising result is the spiking deer populations and an unbalanced ecosystem.

In many states, the large number of deer are changing forests for the worse. Invasive plants, which deer avoid eating, are dominating forest floors while the native plants are disappearing due to overgrazing.

“High population densities, although they might occur in limited circumstances, would not be sustained across broad geographic areas,” says the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. “Mature forests don’t provide enough suitable deer food to support such populations.”

In fact, New York doesn’t even have “mature” forests anymore. Even in seemingly untouched areas like the Adirondacks deer are living in a damaged and unsustainable environment.

Native plants have been picked over by the overwhelming deer population and there has not been much effort to restore them, or awareness that this has become an issue in the first place. 

Without native plants insects, birds, and wildlife that have co-evolved with them, cannot survive.

“Exotic plants that evolved in other parts of the world or were cultivated by humans into forms that don’t exist in nature do not support wildlife as well as native plants. Occasionally, they can even escape into the wild and become invasive exotics that destroy natural habitat.”

There is no single solution to fixing local ecosystems. There needs to be continual effort to reestablish native plant life and remove harmful invasive plants.

As for the deer populations, they must be regulated by each state, since the Supreme Court in 1896 ruled that states have “ownership” of wildlife. “Efforts at reform must be made state-by-state. This process will be slow as rules are generally promulgated by processes that ensure adequate evaluation by respective wildlife authorities and to allow for public review.”