Proof Fence Research Articles

Ecotourism - the Maungatautari example

Much of the value of restoring ecological processes on islands and areas on the mainland lies in answering the question, "how worthwhile is it, in any circumstances, to control invasive weeds and pests?" When the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust (MEIT) builds a 50 km pest proof fence around Maungatautari, a 3400ha forest-clad mountain in the heart of the Waikato, and then eradicates all the pests, we will travel down a restorative path largely ignorant of how the environment functioned just a thousand years ago, before human settlement. We will learn a lot as we clumsily put the ecological jigsaw puzzle back together again. And of course there will be some missing pieces, for example, the recent extinctions like moa and huia. There will be value in this new knowledge and in the recovered "dawn chorus", but how do we price it? If we can't price it, if it has no value, then how do we give the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust a long life free of begging? The answers begin in what makes the Waikato community seek to restore the mountain to something as close as possible for its "unspoilt" state, i.e. the state it was in before exotic pests and weeds invaded it. We have a sense of natural value lost; a longing for what we know was once there. This is based on knowing just how different our forest ecology was to that of any other country, evolving as it did in the absence of mammals (with the exception of the 2 species of bat). The ecological niche occupied by mammals in other countries, was filled here by the extraordinary array of invertebrates, lizards, frogs and birds. And many of our endemic plants came to be extraordinary as well, partly as a response to the set of animals that evolved.

Effects of Sika deer on the regeneration of a Fagus crenata forest on Kinkazan Island, northern Japan

AbstractKinkazan Island, a sanctuary island that has been conserved for over 100 years, is inhabited by a Sika deer population of high density (60 km−2). A Fagus crenata forest, a climax forest of this region, was composed of only large sized trees (30–60 cm diameter breast height) and lacked young trees. However, many saplings were found inside a deer proof fence, indicating this forest had a potential to produce seedlings. They were tentatively protected by shrubs of Leucothoe grayana var. glabra, an upalatable ericaceous shrub, but did not exceed the shrub height. Heavy browsing by the deer suppressed recruitment of saplings of F. crenata. The forest will be reduced without population control of the deer.

Ecology of Deer on Devils Tower National Monument

Currently, white-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (0. hemionus) use Devils Tower National Monument and adjacent private agricultural lands year round or migrate from the Monument to other areas. Construction of a game proof fence by adjoining landowners threatens to enclose Devils Tower National Monument. If this occurs, deer use of the Monument may be substantially altered and long­term management of the population may be faced with many of the problems associated with island reserves. National Park Service management policy charges the Monument to detect or predict changes in the natural resources under its stewardship. However, current deer use of the Monument is not well documented so that a baseline for monitoring long term changes is lacking. The University of Wyoming Department of Zoology and Physiology and the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, in cooperation with the University of Wyoming National Park Service Research Center and Devils Tower National Monument, initiated a study in June 1990 to document the population and habitat ecology of white­tailed and mule deer on Devils Tower National Monument. Objectives of the study during this reporting period were to: 1. radio-collar a representative sample of the adult female population of deer 2. radio-locate adult does to identify daily and seasonal habitat use and movement patterns 3. determine seasonal deer densities on the Monument