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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Understanding the paradox of deer persisting at high abundance in heavily browsed habitats
Wildlife Biology, Volume 20, No. 3, Year 2014
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Description
In the context of remarkable increases in many deer populations observed in temperate forests, it is critical to better understand the processes sustaining abundant populations despite dramatic declines in the vegetation they feed on. When natural predation and hunting levels are too low to control deer populations, a resource-driven negative feedback is expected. Such a feedback assumes that the remaining resources do not match the energy requirements of a current herbivore population, thereby limiting herbivore abundance. Here we take advantage of a well-documented, long-term study of abundant predator-free populations of black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis on the Haida Gwaii archipelago (Canada) to assess the ability of a heavily browsed forest habitat to sustain abundant deer populations. For two deer populations, we: 1) compared the energy provided by various resource pools to the energy required by deer; and 2) identified what components of the environment contributed most to support them. Qualitatively, our results are robust to the many assumptions and uncertainties and identify the resources currently available that allow these abundant deer populations to meet their energy needs despite the apparent paucity in resources. Resources are provided by a flux of hardly visible plant tissue produced by perennial species highly tolerant of herbivory and able to survive via underground structures (e.g. rhizomes), and by subsidies provided by canopy trees or by plants in refuges (i.e. litterfall and seed bank). We discuss the possibility of a resource-driven feedback that may ultimately occur in the long term as a result of changes in recruitment, productivity and fertility of plants. The possible lack of resource-driven feedback in the short or medium term should be considered by managers when assessing the need for active deer population control in situations without carnivores or hunting. © 2014 The Authors. This is an Open Access article.
Authors & Co-Authors
Chamaillé-Jammes, Simon
France, Montpellier
Centre D’ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
Gaston, Anthony J.
Canada, Gatineau
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Gimenez, Olivier
France, Montpellier
Centre D’ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
Picot, Denis
France, Castanet-tolosan
Inrae Occitanie-toulouse Centre
Verheyden, Hélène
France, Castanet-tolosan
Inrae Occitanie-toulouse Centre
Martin, Jean Louis
France, Montpellier
Centre D’ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
Statistics
Citations: 17
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.2981/wlb.13048
ISSN:
09096396
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Sexual And Reproductive Health
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study