Carrying Capacity.   According of Wikpedia, see the full article, "The carrying capacity of a biological species in an environment is the maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water, and other necessities available in the environment. In population biology, carrying capacity is defined as the environment's maximal load ... "


Carrying Capacity Research and News


East Lansing, Council Floats Regional Strategy Following Deer Management Presentation December 5, 2023 Michigan, 

East Lansing Info

...  the city is interested in keeping the deer population at a socially acceptable carrying capacity, as opposed to a biological carrying capacity. In other words, the city is trying to keep the deer population at a level that is acceptable to city residents, not at what is biologically possible...


Dispatch from Blakely Island: Biology in the Field September 4, 2022 Fashion News

... Their natural predators, including cougars & wolves, have been exterminated by early settlers. Annual hunting is not a significant factor in the survival of the herd. The only thing that limits its numbers is the availability of food. Dr. Long points out the fact that the mature forest canopy blocks sunlight and reduces the undergrowth, which is something the deer love. He estimates that once there was a stable population of 500 deer. Now, it is only 350...


Lakeway revisits controversial deer management program January 22, 2021 Texas, Austin American-Statesman 

... According to wildlife biologist Nicholas Kolbe, Lakeway’s deer population is healthy but will probably decrease rather than increase ... the herd composition being 65% female, 17% male and 18% juvenile ... at or close to a maximum carrying capacity for the area; however, he said the risk of the deer population growing beyond current numbers is minimal ...


Oak Bay, Divided council agrees to manage deer March 25, 2016 British Columbia, Oak Bay News

... Bryan Gates, president of UWSS, suggested Oak Bay could be at “biological carrying capacity” – the maximum population the environment can sustain indefinitely.  “We have no evidence this population is growing, we have no evidence it’s declining. I believe we’re at biological carrying capacity,” ...


Hunters battle harmful exotic deer February 18, 2016 Texas, Denton Record-Chronicle 

... Garner State Park and South Llano River State Park“Our biological carrying capacity is 16 acres per deer,” [40 deer per square mile] ...


Spatial heterogeneity in the carrying capacity of sika deer in Japan  H Iijima, M Ueno - Journal of Mammalogy, 2016

Carrying capacity is 1 driver of wildlife population dynamics. Although in previous studies carrying capacity was considered to be a fixed entity, it may differ among locations due to environmental variation... We conclude that population dynamics of ungulates may vary spatially through spatial variation in carrying capacity and that the density level for controlling ungulate abundance should be based on the current density level relative to the carrying capacity for each area...


White-tailed Deer Habitat Evaluation and Management Guide”  2011 Oklahoma State University, see page 2

... summarizing:  carrying capapcity varies depending on site conditions, in Oklahoma the carrying capacity can be as high as about 43 deer per square mile [one deer per 15 acres]


Jurisdictions struggle over how many deer are enough May 15, 2017 Minnesota, Minneapolis Star Tribune

... deer densities ... examinations of the deer turned up. They were skinny, and females expected to be carrying fawns weren’t... Shawn Riley, who teaches human dimensions of wildlife management at Michigan State University, said ... a lack of deer fetuses may be nature’s way of adapting to circumstances ...


Cody, Urban deer numbers show no real change February 3, 2016 Wyoming, Cody Enterprise

... After five years of counting it has been determined the size of the Cody in-city deer herd has barely fluctuated. “There are actually fewer deer than there were five years ago,” ... Some residents were concerned deer were proliferating ... Per-year numbers of deer include: 2011: 307 deer. 2012: 261. 2013: 296. 2014: 272. 2015: 290.


Petoskey, City defers on deer discussions November 9, 2017 Michigan, Petoskey News-Review

... car-deer crash statistics in the city going back to 2003 don't show any pattern of increasing numbers of crashes... 

 

Jekyll Island to spend 4 years, $150000 studying deer issue January 19, 2016 Georgia, WSB Atlanta

... the UGA study won't focus solely on deer; it also will look at whether such factors as fire and soil moisture are putting stress on the island's plants and forests. He said the overall number of deer seems to have held steady since the issue first arose about five years ago...


Ottawa Hills, Census sees drop in Ottawa Hills deer population February 2, 2015 Ohio, Toledo Blade

...  why even institute a cull and go through the expense when the population of deer has fallen by 50 percent,” said Michael Eisenstodt, part of villagedeer.com ...A count performed on Jan. 23 only spotted 36 deer ... Similar counts using helicopters and thermal imaging in January, 2009 and January, 2015 found 76 and 75 ...

     Ottawa Hills approves deer cull November 4, 2015 Ohio, Toledo Blade

... Ottawa Hills officials conducted an aerial count in 2010 and 2015, both times finding 76 deer...

     Ottawa Hills to decide on a controlled bow hunt to manage deer population November 2, 2015 Ohio, 13abc

... the deer count is virtually unchanged since 2009. Plus, "deer vehicle accidents have gone down 60% since 2009 and according to the Division of Health ...


Rochester Hills deer population down September 16, 2015 Michigan, The Oakland Press 

... Results of an aerial survey show the city’s deer population may have declined by nearly 20 percent over 2014.  The city has been infamous for its vehicle-deer crashes in the past and even went was far as to employ sharpshooters in a controversial 2009 deer cull.  “There really wasn’t a good place to do it,” Mayor Bryan Barnett said...


Volunteers count 8 deer at Homestead September 28, 2015 Nebraska, Beatrice Daily Sun

... The deer surveys started in May 2003 ... “This was the 37th deer survey complete since then ... On average, about 30 deer are seen, with the highest number recorded in February of 2010 with 120 deer and the lowest number recorded being five in September of 2003.” ...


Bowling Green, Winter brings prime deer-spotting time December 26,2017 Ohio, Sentinel-Tribune

... "Our deer population in Bowling Green is not at such a level that it's creating anything more than inconvenience issues," like coming into neighborhoods in search of food. Residents can lose some of their plant material in their landscaping due to deer... there are very few deer-car collisions ...


Survey helps Cody plan for urban mule deer herd  November 29, 2014 Wyoming, Casper Star-Tribune Online

... Game and Fish wildlife supervisor Alan Osterland said the 2011 deer count of the in-town herd registered 307. The count was 261 in 2012, and 292 in 2013.  Those numbers indicate the population is "fairly static," and he doesn't expect to see any major difference in the results in December...


Buffalo: Too Many Deer Near Route 5? New York, WGRZ-TV

... Mark Kandel, a wildlife expert with the state Department of Conservation says the deer population in the area has been high for the past ten years.... Buffalo, Lackawanna and the northern part of Hamburg are closed to deer hunting. "...And have never really been open to deer hunting in the last 75 years, so the population is pretty much unchecked," ... experts have not seen a spike in numbers this year, and the warmer weather has not really impacted the habits of the deer...."The deer may be more visible because the weather conditions ... [no deer cull in this area, yet the population has been stable for 10 years, not doubling each year as some suggest will happen without an urban deer cull]


Fort Drum researchers take to sky for deer survey, note decline in population February 26, 2016 New York, WatertownDailyTimes.com

... The team estimated the main post area, south of Route 26, had about 304 deer following the survey, a drop from the 370 estimated in 2012... He attributed the decline to rough winters in recent years, which took their toll on populations ...


Quality vs. Quantity, A Closer Look at Deer Herd Condition Trends in Ohio Ohio Department of Natural Resources

... Because they are the most sensitive to environmental stressors (both biological and sociological), the pregnancy status of doe fawns serves as an ideal indicator of overall deer herd condition. As deer numbers increase and/or habitat quality declines, fewer doe fawns will attain the necessary body condition to reproduce...


Twin Falls controls park deer population February 18, 2013 West Virginia, Wycoreport

... Park visitors reported seeing as many as 200 to 250 deer as they drove through the park during the 1980s and early 1990s.  “Now, you might see 15,” said park Superintendent Scott Durham.  At the time, Durham explained, the large deer herd on the park were over-browsing the food supply. As a result, he predicted then, the deer would destroy their future food supply and die from disease and parasites due to malnutrition.  “That didn’t happen,” Durham said last week. “What did happen is the deer stopped reproducing.” ...  response to a reduced food supply ... “We have observational evidence to support this,” emphasized Durham, who is a wildlife biologist...


Hamilton, Deer population drops at Iroquoia Heights October 21, 2013 Canada, Jamilton spectator

... an aerial survey at the Ancaster park in February spotted 58 deer, down considerably from 2009, when 102 were counted ... Liz White, director of the Animal Alliance of Canada and a member of an advisory committee that recommended holding off on a hunt at Iroquoia Heights, said ... "In every town that I've been involved with where they've actually culled deer, the numbers have essentially remained about the same because new deer come in ... "But in circumstances where you just remove the feed, it doesn't support the numbers in that kind of density. I suspect that's true in Iroquoia Heights, too."