As long as adequate food resources are available, deer populations can double in size every years. Eventually some form of population management is needed to control herd growth and maintain deer numbers within the social carrying capacity. Swihart, R. Public involvement, science, management, and the overabundance of deer: Can we avoid a hostage crisis?
Wildlife Society Bulletin Public Concerns Deer are very charismatic animals, and many people in New York enjoy seeing, watching, photographing, or hunting deer.
The Challenge Many communities are facing the challenge of managing locally-overabundant deer herds in areas closed to hunting. South Carolina. South Dakota. West Virginia. United Kingdom. The Decline of Deer Populations. Deer and Lyme Disease.
Deer Density and Forest Regeneration. Deer Disease. Deer Resistant Plants and Repellents. Deer Fence. Dogs for Deer Management. Feeding Deer. Chestnut Trees.
Mountain Lions and Deer. Coyotes and Deer. Wolves and Deer. Deer Friends. The total U. The whitetail population fell from about The mule, blacktail , and other deer populations fell from about 4. Less than 4 million in The recent peak for mule and blacktails was around , illustrated in the graph below for the estimated U. Deer were nearly hunted to extinction by the early s and were extirpated in many regions. In the U.
BIological Survey estimated the whitetail population at , Conservation and restocking allowed whitetail populations to recover to about pre-colonization levels while blacktails and mule deer are below historic levels. The modern decline of mule and blacktail populations has been a major concern of wildlife agencies for decades. The population estimate [ methodology ] is based on information from state agencies and other groups collected on this website, discussed on each state page that can be accessed by clicking on the drop down menus above.
The estimate also relies on harvest data for each state, available using the links at the top of the column at right. A few numbers are unavailable and estimated. Population estimates can have a wide range of reliability. As illustrated in the figure above, the U. Mild winters in the north and recovery from the Texas drought account for much of the uptick since Some numbers are goals, so population estimates from these states have been adjusted based on harvest data.
Data for the trend in the whitetail deer population from and earlier is based on Kert VerCauteren in The Deer Boom , the Wildlife Management Institute's book " Whitetail Deer: Ecology and Management " and others , updated using current harvest data and state population estimates. Recent University of Wyoming research puts the white-tailed deer population prior to European settlement at 30 to 40 million, so the historic estimate above may be low.
A summary of historic mule and blacktail population estimates. Research published in and [PDF] using data from this site identified the recent change in the total population trend, turning down around the year Causes for the Decline of the Deer Population. Habitat loss, change, and fragmentation are known to play a role in the decline. Many fear that chronic wasting disease will drive the deer population to low levels over the coming decades. Searching the internet, this site has tracked many of the proposed causes for the declining deer population reported in the column at right and in more detail on for each state on their page, including:.
When Europeans first came to settle America, it was estimated that as many as 10 million elk roamed the land. The current population is around one million.
An estimated 1 million moose in North America in The last U. Been in Decline for Many Years. The graph below shows the estimated to California deer population, made up of blacktails and mule deer, falling by about 75 percent from See the California page for an analysis of what appears to be the largest modern decline in the deer population.
Read a peer reviewed research article demonstrating how public management decisions in California may have contributed to the long term decline of the deer population. What Are We Conserving with Conservation? We have outlawed wilderness — can rewilding bring it back? November 11, apolitical. As the grazers were no longer around to keep woody vegetation in check, trees got the upper hand over grasses and forests became the dominant vegetation Today, the realization that biodiversity policy has been protecting the ecological impacts of historic extinctions Are Deer a Threat to Forests?
Does white-tailed deer density affect tree stocking in forests of the Eastern United States? August, Ecological Processes. Despite deer pressure, a major transition in eastern forests has resulted in increased tree densities.
Deer densities and tree stocking were not related significantly for the entire eastern US Furthermore, major tree species trends did not match tree browse preferences. Conclusions Rather than too few trees, too many trees is an ecological problem where historical open oak and pine forests had herbaceous understories, and currently, trees have captured growing space.
We attribute other drivers than deer to explain this transition Population sizes and mean deer densities were , and 0. Maybe deer aren't the forest-killers we thought they were October 6, Concord Monitor A report from the U.
Forest Service read it here says The future of hunting as a mechanism to control white-tailed deer populations. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 28 4 , Eschtruth, A. Acceleration of exotic plant invasion in a forested ecosystem by a generalist herbivore. Conservation Biology, 23 2 , Horsley, S.
White-tailed deer impact on the vegetation dynamics of a northern hardwood forest. Ecological Applications, 13 1 , Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Deer-vehicle collisions: no easy solutions but some methods work or show promise. Advisory No. Kilpatrick, H. A controlled archery deer hunt in a residential community: cost, effectiveness, and deer recovery rates. Wildlife Society Bulletin, Patterson, B. Contributions of forage competition, harvest, and climate fluctuation to changes in population growth of northern white-tailed deer.
Oecologia, 1 , Peek, L. Piesman, J. Strategies for reducing the risk of Lyme borreliosis in North America. International Journal of Medical Microbiology, , Rooney, T. Direct and indirect effects of white-tailed deer in forest ecosystems. Forest Ecology and Management, 1 , Natural Areas Journal, 17 4 , Deer impacts on forest ecosystems: a North American perspective. Forestry, 74 3 , Roseberry, J.
Habitat-population density relationships for white-tailed deer in Illinois. Rutberg, A. Population-level effects of immunocontraception in white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus. Wildlife Research, 35 6 , Seagle, S. Biological Conservation, 76 1 , Department of Commerce, U. Census Bureau. Hi, yeah my parents own a farm and they have had problems with deer these last few years eating their plants.
The really strange thing is that some of the deer have started to eat the tomato plants, not just the fruit but the leaves and stems. Which they should know better than, since tomato plants are part of the nightshade family. I live in Vermont, and a lot of farmers have been having to do more and more to keep deer from eating their crops.
The overpopulation of deer are a threat to the survival of our honey bees. The example I see is here in my suburb of Parma, OH and in all surrounding suburbs where no non-deer resistant flowers are planted. They are not planted because of the greed and laziness of deer which stroll onto private property and eat all the flowers. One deer can totally denude a flower garden.
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