White-Tailed Deer Case Study

The White-Tailed Deer has steadily recovered from its once threatened status in the earlier part of the 20th century to become a species that is now overabundant in both suburban and completely forested areas across the United States. White-Tailed Deer overabundance leads to overbrowsing, which can compromise the ecological health of forests. By examining the three questions listed above as my “aims,” hunting regulations could potentially be reformed to enhance biodiversity, protect rare and vulnerable understory plants, and estimate how large a healthy deer population should be in reference to those parameters.