Study: deer density problem for forests More deer mean reduced plant diversity

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Although the study has yet to be published, Mainers may be interested in the results of a 10-year project recently completed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s Northeastern Research Station.

That group, based at a lab in Warren, Pa., has determined that deer densities – how many deer exist in a given square mile – have a potentially devastating effect on eastern forests.

The study says that the sustainability of the eastern forests is being jeopardized in some cases.

According to a release on the USDA Forest Service Web site, a significant problem exists in some forests.

“The current density is producing devastating and long-term effect on forests,” said Forest Service plant physiologist Dr. Steve Horsley, who co-authored the study.

“Foraging deer ‘vacuum’ up the seedlings of highly preferred species, reducing plant diversity, and in the extreme, creating a mono-culture,” Horsley said. “It could take decades or even hundreds of years to restore forests.”

Over the course of the 10-year study, researchers used fences to enclose deer in managed forests at densities equivalent to 10, 20, 38 and 64 deer per square mile.

Four enclosed 165-acre areas were used in the study, which was conducted in northwestern Pennsylvania.

The research team measured vegetation, including seedlings and herbaceous plants. The deer densities represented the range that has been found in those forests from pre-European settlement days in the early 1800s through the peak densities in the 1970s.

The study showed:

. The number of woody species decreases as deer density increases. Species of plants preferred by deer were selectively removed from the forest by browsing.

. The percent of the forest floor covered by ferns, grasses and sedges – species that interfere with the establishment and growth of tree regeneration – increased with increased deer density.

. The percent of the forest floor covered by blackberry species, which are highly preferred as a food source by deer, decreased with increased density.

. The height growth of many species was reduced in all harvest treatments.

At 10 and 20 deer per square mile, seedlings of most species persisted, and blackberries survived to combat the growth of ferns.

But at 64 deer per square mile, black cherry dominated over other woody species and fern cover was high.

“The negative impacts of high deer densities are huge,” Horsley said. “Young plants of many preferred species are not surviving past the seedling stage, putting forests on the prink of tremendous loss of biological diversity.”

A co-researcher, Dr. Susan Stout, said the study should have an impact throughout the region.

“These results should inform policy debates and decisions about remedial efforts throughout the eastern hardwood region,” she said. “Whether an agency manages land for biological diversity, commercial production or non-timber forest products, or recreation, deer affect the land manager’s ability to achieve management objectives.”

The study will be published in February in Ecological Applications.

Snowshoe race series planned

The Crow Athletics running club is giving fitness-minded individuals an option this winter, as it plans a three-race snowshoe series.

According to Judson Cake, a top local runner, Peter Keeney of Crow Athletics has already submitted a bid – banking on the support of area athletes – for a U.S. Snowshoeing Association national qualifier in this area for 2004.

The Crow Snowshoe Series events:

. Saturday, Jan. 26, at Schoodic Mountain Lodge in Sullivan, 11 a.m.

. Sunday, Feb. 2, the Great Pond Mountain Snowshoe Race, at East Orland, 10 a.m.

. Sunday, Feb. 9, at Beech Hill Farm in Mount Desert, 10 a.m.

Turkey dinner planned

The Cold Mountain Snowmobile Club in Grand Isle is planning a turkey dinner on Feb. 9.

The dinner starts at 11 a.m. and will run … until the turkey runs out.

The cost is $6, and many prizes will be raffled off.

Round Pond derby on tap

Down East anglers who want to spend an exciting day on the ice might want to consider the Calais Rod & Gun Club’s $10,000 Memorial Ice Fishing Derby.

The derby will be held on Sunday, Feb. 16, which falls on the state’s “free-fishing” weekend.

There will be three tagged pickerel, with one worth $5,000 and two worth $2,500. All you have to do is catch the right fish.

The entry fee is $10 for an individual and $20 for a family, and the derby runs from 7 a.m.-3 p.m.

In addition, a breakfast will be held for fishermen and spectators, beginning at 6 a.m. The price of the breakfast is $5.

Also, a 10-inch Jiffy ice auger will be raffled off.

To submit an item for publication in the Outdoor Notebook, send e-mail to jholyoke@bangordailynews.net, fax to 990-8092 or mail information to Outdoor Notebook, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor, Maine, 04402-1329.