Pertinent to all woodlands on the East Coast. You can read this as it's a gift article. I'm a little distubed by the incident at the firing range. That would cause me to take some sort of litigious action, but the author did not elaborate.
I bought a gun and intend to use it.
- Thread starter bobpbx
- Start date
"Perhaps most ominously, the deer overpopulation prevents the growth of new trees, especially oaks, because they eat seedlings and saplings before the trees can mature."
I haven't seen that claim about oaks before, and it doesn't seem to apply around here. My property is an oak-pine forest and the oaks flourish, as they do throughout the Southern Pine Barrens. If this were really a problem, why haven't these woods transitioned to pine-oak? But the deer have destroyed any chance of my cedars growing back, the old ones are dying out and deer eat the little shoots as soon as they appear.
As I understand it, deer were pretty much gone from the Pines long ago but the State re-introduced them. And they continue to encourage the population to grow, for the benefit of hunters.
I haven't seen that claim about oaks before, and it doesn't seem to apply around here. My property is an oak-pine forest and the oaks flourish, as they do throughout the Southern Pine Barrens. If this were really a problem, why haven't these woods transitioned to pine-oak? But the deer have destroyed any chance of my cedars growing back, the old ones are dying out and deer eat the little shoots as soon as they appear.
As I understand it, deer were pretty much gone from the Pines long ago but the State re-introduced them. And they continue to encourage the population to grow, for the benefit of hunters.
It seems to be a real phenomenon, at least in nearby areas.
Here's a relevant study, but this is from North Jersey:
www.sciencedirect.com
Maybe there are some mitigating factors in play in this area; overabundance of other understory plants they prefer to saplings, for example?
I'll bet someone at Stockton is specifically studying this. They have similar deer exclosures set up.
Here's a relevant study, but this is from North Jersey:
Regional changes to forest understories since the mid-Twentieth Century: Effects of overabundant deer and other factors in northern New Jersey
Increased densities of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in eastern North America cause multiple impacts to forest understories, but few stud…
www.sciencedirect.com
Maybe there are some mitigating factors in play in this area; overabundance of other understory plants they prefer to saplings, for example?
I'll bet someone at Stockton is specifically studying this. They have similar deer exclosures set up.
What kind of oaks, Boyd? Here in the Piedmont, I don't feel like I see as many young oaks as I should. I wonder if scrub oaks coming up by root sprouting are better sustained by the root network when gnawed? Or maybe the scrub oaks (chinkapin excepted) are less palatable?
That's a good question. I had a different question in this vein. I wondered if there was a dearth of oak seedlings on his property, which would also reveal something. But I decided not to ask it it as it leads to other complexities. Overall, I'm going to guess from where Boyd lives, that he has no scrub oaks such as Quercus ilicifolia or Q. marilandica (can grow scrubby). Chinkapin is rare in the pines (now), but I'm not sure if that's true down Boyd's way.
OK, to be fair, that was probably the wrong question to ask. It's possible that the woods around here (Estell Manor) might be transitioning from oaks to another kind of hardwood, although that isn't apparent to me. But I'm a "can't see the trees for the forest" kind of guy.
We need to make does legal targets all season for all hunters. Deer are a nuisance, and the coyotes can't keep them in check.
That gun range incident makes me happy for stricter rules. I'm a member of South Jersey Shooting Club, and if someone blew up their rifle with homemade rounds and hurt another member, they would likely be expelled. I keep a trauma pad in my range bag for such idiots.
That gun range incident makes me happy for stricter rules. I'm a member of South Jersey Shooting Club, and if someone blew up their rifle with homemade rounds and hurt another member, they would likely be expelled. I keep a trauma pad in my range bag for such idiots.