The impact of huge blowdown areas by typhoon on the population trend for sika deer: Case study at Lake Shikotsu, Hokkaido

Abstract

 Huge blowdown areas were created due to a typhoon in 2004 around Lake Shikotsu, Hokkaido, Japan. These blowdown areas formed an ideal foraging habitat for herbivores, because of the canopy gaps. Here, we report the results of 146 spotlight counts, that were conducted around Lake Shikotsu from October 2006 to October 2015. We observed 2,732 sika deer throughout the study period, and the relative population index increased from 2.20 deer/10km in autumn 2006 to 18.42 deer/10km in autumn 2015.