Report on the Symposium “Deer and Forest Management”

Abstract

In most Northern Hemisphere temperate countries, overabundant deer populations are recognized to have profound effects on forest vegetation and soil. Forests in these countries have been damaged by browsing and bark peeling, and shifts in species composition and regeneration failures in damaged forests have been reported from many sites. Agricultural and forest damage caused by sika deer (Cervus nippon) has recently become more urgent in Japan. For the sake of healthy forests both today and in the future, deer populations should be managed to a moderate density level. However, it seems to be extremely difficult to control overabundant sika deer populations using traditional approaches. In this symposium, we focused on comprehensive forest management in deer habitat and localized management as a relatively new, scientific management strategy to control deer populations. We had four speakers who have been studying deer and forest management in the USA, UK, and Japan. We discussed possible new approaches based on the scientific management of deer, and forest management approaches currently in use in Japan.