Deer were introduced to Australia and New Zealand in the 19th
century from Europe as game animals meaning they were brought over for
recreational hunting. As the feral deer (family
Cervidae) population increase they are invading new areas causing damage to
both the natural environment and agriculture business. As herbivores they
destroy native vegetation by trampling plants, grazing and ring-barking young
trees, this causes damaging changes in plant communities, such as modifications
in nutrient cycling. Deer also cause dramatic changes to the understory
composition and structure of some forests. Through their foraging selectivity they also
contribute to the spread of weeds and potentially transmit diseases (Coomes
D.A, etal, 2003).
The spread of deer populations have been a result of escapes
or releases from deer farms. The most effective step to managing the impacts of
deer is to prevent more deer from entering the wild. Control programs are best
carried out as a joint exercise involving all land managers in the district. These
methods include shooting either via helicopter or ground shooting, recreational
shooting, trapping and fencing.
During a recent study to restore ecosystems that are affected
by the invasive deer it was discovered that after the eradication of the pest it
was difficult to reverse the effects. However the long term affects of the
ecosystem responses is hard to determine as deer control has not been imposed
in many places for a length of time that it is possible to note generations of
long-lived plant species (Tanentzap A.J, etal,
2009).
References:
Coomes D.A, Allen, R.B, Forsyth D.M, Lee W.G, 2003, ‘Factors
preventing the recovery of New Zealand Forests following Control of invasive
deer’ Conservation Biology, vol.17,
no.2, pp. 450-459
Tanentzap A.J, Burrows L.E, Lee W.G, Nugent G, Maxwell J.M,
Coomes D.A, 2009, ‘Landscape-level vegetation recovery from herbivory: progress
after four decades of invasive red deer control, Journal of Applied Ecology, vol.46, no.5, pp. 1064-1072.
I didn’t realise that there were deer in Australia. Fascinating. Why, in general, do you think invasive species are so much more successful than non-invasive species? Can you suggest how some plant species may actually be negatively affected in the deer are completely eradicated? Interesting.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post, especially when thinking about back home where deer are like the wallabies here, they are everywhere! I can imagine they would cause great damage to the plant populations especially since they do the same thing to the plants back home. Are there any other ways these deer could be eradicated? Cool post!
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