Effects of sika deer on vegetation in Japan: A review

Abstract

The Japanese sika deer Cervus nippon has expanded its range by nearly 70% during the last two decades. Browsing by sika deer affects vegetation in both agricultural and forested habitats. Effects of sika deer on vegetation are conspicuous on deer-inhabited islands: forest structure and composition are altered by deer grazing and browsing, and consequently regeneration is prevented. By felling of old trees, forest gaps are formed, but since sapling recruitment is prevented, shade intolerant plants invade. Unpalatable forbs like ragwort Senecio cannabifolius and ferns like bracken Pteridium aquilinum (Dennstaedtiaceae) become dominants in open habitats. At the places of highest deer density, the Zoysia japonica community, a low growing grass mat, develops. Sika deer function as a seed dispersal agent of this grass. Indirect effects of sika deer are not well studied, but some studies have shown reduction of understory bamboo cover, which in turn improves the survival of tree seedlings and declines of wood mice Apodemus spp. Japanese forests in lower mountainous areas were widely logged during the 1940s and 1950s. These areas were not well planted during the war and until 1950, but thereafter intensively planted to alter to conifer plantation as a nationwide campaign. For several decades after the war, rodents and hares grazed planted trees. According to growth of the planted trees to form canopy, which is unfavorable for rodents and hares, their damage declined. After the 1960s, old-growth forests in high mountainous areas were logged, and conifers were planted. Animals causing forestry damage were replaced by sika deer during the 1980s. Sika deer eat a wide variety of foods, and are gregarious, which causes heavy impacts on vegetation. Effects of sika deer are expanding to natural forests, alpine vegetation, and marshes. To reduce damages on forestry and natural vegetation, as many as 100,000 sika deer are culled every year. However, the hunter population is rapidly declining, and it is expected population control by culling will be insufficient. Although sika deer are an important component of Japanese forests, current population densities exceed the capacity of many ecosystems to tolerate herbivory.