Biology Department

Biology faculty and alumnus publish new deer research study

Professors of Biology Eric Long and Ryan Ferrer, along with alumnus Enoch Tham (BS Ecology, 2019) co-authored a new research article in PLoS ONE (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0298231). The article, “Succession and climatic stochasticity induce long-term decline of a forest browser”, examined the long-term effects of forest regrowth and maturation on the density of black-tailed deer on Blakely Island. Long, Tham and Ferrer found that as timber harvests decreased and forests matured on Blakely Island, black-tailed deer populations decreased. These results are among the first to quantify deer population declines in response to forest regrowth and increased canopy cover, and have long-term implications for island ecosystem recovery and population survival in response to significant events such as climate change and disease.