After combing through hundreds of studies analyzing deer species over the past 20 years, scientists are learning more about how the animal is responding to a changing environment.
What's happening?
Deer are like mirrors — how they act reflects changes around them. For example, researchers have found that deer population numbers, migration patterns, and distribution within a region can all be impacted by temperature fluctuations, according to a study summary on Phys.org by France's National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE).
Diet and physical health may be impacted, too, as access to food changes and the animal responds to any additional stress.
The researchers focused on populations in boreal and temperate regions, and documented changes across 10 species: moose, roe deer, wapiti, red deer, sika deer, fallow deer, white-tailed deer, mule deer, caribou, and reindeer, the INRAE researchers wrote. The full study is published in the journal Global Change Biology.
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Why is understanding deer important?
It's critical to keep track of how deer respond to new developments in their habitats for several reasons.
First, the deer themselves can be in danger. Winter weather fluctuations can freeze over vegetation for colder climate species like reindeer or caribou, threatening starvation. Meanwhile, hotter weather and dry summers can push other deer's bodies to the limit, increasing the risk of heat stress and parasites, per INRAE.
Interestingly, the study also found that some deer may benefit in areas with increasingly mild winters, thanks to the more abundant food and less taxing weather.
Second, the next generation of deer could be changed forever. If the places where deer live and migrate change in one generation, then their presence or migration route "could disappear from these areas" over the course of the following generation, INRAE said in the report, marking a tangible loss of biodiversity.
Changes in body mass can also impact subsequent populations and change their reproduction over time, reported the outlet.
Lastly, any changes evident in deer populations can be an indicator of overall ecosystem health, as established in a 1996 study in the journal Forest Ecology and Management.
That's why moving away from dirty energy sources that contribute to destabilizing global temperatures is so critical — if the deer are feeling it, the rest of the forest probably is, too.
What's being done to protect deer?
According to INRAE, this scientific review and similar topics are instrumental in helping wildlife, forest, and park managers support their deer populations and adjust their techniques. Sometimes, all it takes to save a species is knowing to lift up some fences.
Local conservation efforts can also make strides toward a safe, clean, deer-filled future. Check out what might be going on near you and learn how to get involved.
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