Contrary to commonly held beliefs, suburban landscapes do not take away deer habitat – they create it............. Deer are adaptive animals............ Suburban development creates preferred edge habitat for deer, and human landscapes provide high concentrations of edible plants close to the ground where the deer can get to them............... You can grow more deer in suburbia than you can in a purely forested landscape...........With Pumas and Wolves absent from the Virginia landscape,,,,,,,,,,,With almost no hunting pressure in Virginia's suburban areas and declining hunting pressure in rural areas, deer numbers have skyrocketed state-wide............ In many areas of the Commonwealth, deer population numbers are at more than three to eight times the densities that native plant communities can sustain.............In 2008 the USDA Forest Service began to make dire predictions about eastern forests due to the over-browsing by white-tailed deer.............. The problem is so severe that even if we could reduce the number of deer immediately to within ecologically sustainable levels, it would take many decades if not centuries to recover our native plant communities............A full suite of indigenous Carnivores including Bears, Wolves, Pumas are needed in the woodlands and suburban forests for regeneration and biodiversity to return to a semblance of historical levels

Deer Population a

 Challenge for Area

 Forests

potomaclocal.com

By CHARLES SMITH
Prince William Conservation Alliance

Many residents in Northern Virginia understand
 the need to change
 land use practices to stop or minimize habitat
destruction and preserve
 good examples of our native plant communities.
 An increasing number
 of people also support combating the spread
 of non-native invasive
 species to include problem plant species and
 insects such as gypsy moth,
 which can strip tree foliage and cause their death.

These two conservation priorities remain
 tremendously important, but
there is a critical need to add another:
controlling populations of
white-tailed deer.

People arrived in North America over
 13,000 years ago. Once our
 species arrived, we, not wolves and
 mountain lions, gradually
became the top predator controlling
 populations of large herbivores.
 Many of those species eventually
 went extinct. The white-tailed deer
 nearly joined their ranks by about 1900
, with very few deer left in the state.

In the mid-20th century, Virginia joined
many other states in reintroducing
 white-tailed deer to supplement the
 few deer left and increase numbers
 for sport hunting. From the 1950s
 through the 1980s two things happened
 that greatly contributed to the increase
 in the number of deer. First land
 use shifted away from agriculture toward
 suburban and urban uses.

Contrary to commonly held beliefs,
suburban landscapes do not take away
 deer habitat – they create it. Deer are
 adaptive animals. Suburban
 development creates preferred edge
 habitat for deer, and human
 landscapes provide high concentrations
 of edible plants close to the
ground where the deer can get to them.
You can grow more deer in
suburbia than you can in a purely forested
 landscape.

The second major factor is that few people
 hunt. Deer are a prey species
 that requires predation to control their
 populations. Without predation they
 can double their numbers in as little as
one year. With almost no hunting
 pressure in suburban areas and declining
 hunting pressure in rural areas,
deer numbers have skyrocketed state-wide
. In many areas of the state,
 deer population numbers are at more than
 three to eight times the
densities that native plant communities can
 sustain.

The result is that our remaining forest
ecosystems are decimated
 Deer eat everything native with few
 exceptions. They eat almost all
of the non-woody plants in the forest as
 well as all shrubs and trees
 within their reach and the majority of the
 acorns and hickory nuts.
They have now removed most vegetatio
n from many of our forests
 below 5 feet.

The results include the disappearance
 of most of our forest bird
 species in many areas due to loss of
 the understory, the loss of
 many of our woodland wildflowers, and
 a change of our forest stand
 composition to a few species such as
 tulip tree, American beech
 and red maple that have smaller seeds
 and appear to be less
 palatable to deer.

As our forests are oversimplified we
lose native species, non-native
 invasive plants explode and become
the dominant understory.
Once the existing trees die, there will
 be little to replace them.

In 2008 the USDA Forest Service
began to make dire predictions
 about eastern forests due to the
 over-browsing by white-tailed deer.
The problem is so severe that even
 if we could reduce the number
of deer immediately to within
 ecologically sustainable levels,
 it would
 take many decades if not centurie
s to recover our native plant
communities.

If we act soon we can retain enough
 native plant stock and seed
 that many species could recover
 within remaining forests and
 repopulate surrounding areas
 over time.

It is time for residents and local
 governments in Northern Virginia
 to join with USDA Forest Service,
 the Virginia Natural Heritage
 Program, large landowners and
 managers elsewhere in Virginia,
 the Maryland Native Plant Society
 and others in supporting and
 urging efforts to reduce and manage
 the number of white-tailed
 deer in order to protect our native
 plant species, the communities
in which they live and the animal
 species they support.

Charles Smith is a member of the
 Prince William Wildflower Society
 and Prince William Conservation
Alliance, and the Natural Resource
 Management and Protection Branch
Manager for Fairfax County
Park Authority.

diorama of the eastern forest in the 17th century