Posted on 01/11/2010 10:49:08 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
SYRACUSE, NY--The Chair of the Department of Environmental and Forest Biology at SUNY Syracuse says deer overpopulation is a greater threat to biodiversity in New York state than global warming.
Donald Leopold explained that "climate change isn't eliminating species, only moving their ranges."
Deer overpopulation, on the other hand, does eliminate other species, he noted.
"No other real or perceived threat is so pervasive throughout the entire state, nor eliminates the majority, if not all, of the understory of natural communities, greatly reducing the diversity of our natural communities and the function of these communities," Leopold explained.
"Ignoring what deer are doing... is worse than throwing litter on the highways, driving gas guzzlers, not recycling, and many other actions."
Leopold, who also serves as a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the program, researches "drivers of diversity and causes of varity in terrestrial and wetland ecosystems." According to his website he has published over fifty-five peer-reviewed papers, six books, six book chapters, six invited book reviews, three proceedings, and many miscellaneous publications, all generally about topics in forest and wetland ecology, and native plants.
Species have been coming and going for millions of years (poor dinosaurs, where was the Endangered Species Act when they needed it?)
Only leftoids with an overblown sense of their own importance think it's incumbent upon them to stop this natural process.
BTTT
You are quite the humanist!
You are quite the humanist!
People are very seperated from reality. We run a club on our land and we are the in Vir. Deer management program. You must actively take does in large numbers to control population. Most hunters are looking for that buck. I took 2 does and buck this year. Our quota was 38 does. We got 36. Almost no bucks taken this year as we raised the limit to 5 points on side or 16” spread. I did get 160 lbs for the freezer.
Good, maybe now they’ll let me hunt with selective fire fully automatic weapons.
In language made simple for you, parklands near urban areas, and suburban landscaping, are a deer candy store unlike any paradise they ever encounter in the wild.
Plus, we have done them the favor of removing natural predators like wolves and coyotes. Sorry Junior, human development is the greatest gift God ever gave the deer population.
Hubby just said they’re supposed to be opening a bow season at Hatteras soon. Talk about destructive! They’ll decimate the island in no time, and then the whackos will all be crying because the poor bambis are all starving to death. Shaking head.
The last few years—I work at a garden center—we’ve had people tell us the deer were eating their gardens down to the ground. Green tomatoes are their new fave. Don’t even get me started on the coyotes! They think cantaloupes are Snicker’s bars!
Hatteras is so beautiful, isn’t it? Love it.
Over the Hedge, anyone?! LOL
ping
The underlyng point is that greenies who think leaving Bambi alone to frolick is "natural" and automatically results in a harmonious balance and all things light and true, is poppycock. Humans got rid of wolves, and as long as humans hunted deer in place of said wolves, no problem. When neither is around hunting them, is sucks to be a fern.
lol...
In Northern CA, on the coast, they have been a problem for many, many years. In some areas they have crossed with the Russian Boar also. This has been going on for as long as I can remember and I am 67. The limit here, except in Monterey county, is one per day. They are a nuisance and hard to hunt.
Look up what a browse line is. Deer decimated High Point State Park in New Jersey, possibly causing a few extinctions. These were insects and local plants, but they’re still gone.
I can sit on my sons deck and we watch herds go thru his yard! He lives in the subs of Pittsburgh. Very dangerous as there are many hills and very winding roads. Cars get hit often.
“Uh, ok, so what exactly are the deer supposed to be doing?”
The smoke and drink beer out in the parking lot and don’t throw the cans or butts away. It’s awful.
I'm sure our beloved Poke-us, er, Postus, er whatever Osamabamadingdong is pretending to be today will formulate a solution soon. It will, however, require vast sums of your and my tax monies to implement....
Actually it's *great* to be a fern under these conditions. Or a barberry. It's everything else that gets chomped into oblivion. I don't know why, but it's well known in Northeastern deer country that deer will eat everything *except* ferns and barberries. I'd heard this before I bought some wooded property in Pennsylvania about 8 years ago. Strolling through the property drove home the point.
Yes! it is a root vegetable and is used as a thickener in oriental dishes as we would use corn starch. But in the south it has taken over! Some sectors in ATlanta are rife with it!
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