Another environmental issue which is seen in my "neck of the woods" would be the over population of white-tailed deer. Increased deer population has not only pestered agricultural projects but it compromises ecosystem stability. One often overlooks the latter as these docile creatures seldom seem to interfere with our daily lives other than the occasional automobile accident. However, in reality, over population of deer can have serious consequences for plant and mammal biodiversity in the Northeast. For example, over browsing of smaller tree species can cause death which then allows faster growing shrub species to replace and block the nutrients of hardwood seedling, necessary for the growth of new trees. Thus, in some parts of the Northeast there are forest which have an uneven distribution of young and old trees. A forest which once had great plant diversity and even distribution of old and young trees is now transformed into a forest with a few large older trees and floor of ferns and other small shrubs. This has been a growing problem for decades now for several reasons. First off, much of the white-tailed deer's habitat has been destroyed thanks to a great migration towards suburban areas. These areas which were traditionally used for agriculture or dominated by native tree species have reduced significantly in size and been replaced by large scale housing projects. This has forced some of the deer population out of their spacious wooded areas and into smaller habitats where they can attack the remaining food supply. Another reason for this overpopulation is extinction of its natural predators, the gray wolf and mountain lion. In the past century, wolves and mountain lions were driven out of the area because they were seen as a health concern to humans and livestock. Additionally, many hunters saw these precious animals which constantly held deer population to a healthy medium, as competitors for the game they wished to hunt. Humans interference in this fragile ecosystem has caused a complete transformation of Pennsylvania's forests for the worst.
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| Aldo Leopold |
Interestingly, one author, Aldo Leapold seemed to predict this exact situation. He explains impeccably in his book,
Sand County Almanac, which was written in 1949 mind you,
" One of the most insidious invasions of wilderness is via predator control. It works thus: wolves and lions are cleaned out of a wilderness area in the interest of big-game management. The big-game herds (ussually deer or elk) then increase to the point of overbrowsing the range. Hunters must then be encouraged to harvest the surplus, but modern hunters refuse to operate far from a car; hence a road must be built to provide access to the surplus game. Again and again, wilderness areas have been split by this process, but it still continues."(268)
It is remarkable how well Leopold predicted these occurrences. More remarkably, he attacks the modern hunter for being lazy and explains the necessity for roads and areas to hunt, which again resembles of our modern culture. In the end he believes that this will shrink the habitats of all creatures ruining a natural wilderness, one which we will never see again.
Another environmental issue which is seen in my "neck of the woods" would be the over population of white-tailed deer. Increased deer population has not only pestered agricultural projects but it compromises ecosystem stability. One often overlooks the latter as these docile creatures seldom seem to interfere with our daily lives other than the occasional automobile accident. However, in reality, over population of deer can have serious consequences for plant and mammal biodiversity in the Northeast. For example, over browsing of smaller tree species can cause death which then allows faster growing shrub species to replace and block the nutrients of hardwood seedling, necessary for the growth of new trees. Thus, in some parts of the Northeast there are forest which have an uneven distribution of young and old trees. A forest which once had great plant diversity and even distribution of old and young trees is now transformed into a forest with a few large older trees and floor of ferns and other small shrubs. This has been a growing problem for decades now for several reasons. First off, much of the white-tailed deer's habitat has been destroyed thanks to a great migration towards suburban areas. These areas which were traditionally used for agriculture or dominated by native tree species have reduced significantly in size and been replaced by large scale housing projects. This has forced some of the deer population out of their spacious wooded areas and into smaller habitats where they can attack the remaining food supply. Another reason for this overpopulation is extinction of its natural predators, the gray wolf and mountain lion. In the past century, wolves and mountain lions were driven out of the area because they were seen as a health concern to humans and livestock. Additionally, many hunters saw these precious animals which constantly held deer population to a healthy medium, as competitors for the game they wished to hunt. Humans interference in this fragile ecosystem has caused a complete transformation of Pennsylvania's forests for the worst.
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