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The Integration of red deer management and nature conservation with specific reference to NATURA sites in Scotland

Die Integration von Naturschutz und großen jagdbaren Tieren in Schottland

Prof. Dr. Brian STAINES, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Dept. Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

The details, discussion and references for this paper have already been published in the III International Deer Conference 1994 (Staines 1998), updated in Staines (1999a, b). An extended summary is given here and outlines the interactions between sport shooting (in particular, red deer {Cervus elaphus} stalking) with other land uses, with special reference impacts of deer on nature conservation, and on NATURA sites in particular.

1 Introduction

• Red deer have been an important game animal in Scotland for many centuries. During the Victorian era red deer populations, and especially hind stocks, were encouraged in the mistaken belief that populations had to be large. In order to get enough suitable stags to stalk. This has led to high deer densities which caused conflicts with other land interests - agriculture, forestry and, more recently, nature conservation.
• The main impacts on nature conservation are from over-grazing on many important plant communities, and especially for preventing the regeneration of native woodlands. Many of these woodlands are NATURA sites. (e.g. the Caledonian Pinewoods and Western Atlantic Oakwoods), and browsing by all species of deer (red, roe {Capreolus capreolus} and sika {Cervus nippon} is a major influence on woodland regeneration and composition. At present, red deer are regarded as the most important species in this respect because of their high densities and wide-ranging habits.

2 Habitats

• The amount of woodland in the United Kingdom has decreased since Neolithic times and at the turn of this century was only 3% of the land cover.
• Red deer adapted to this loss of woodland by inhabiting open moorland and mountainsides in the remoter areas of Scotland, whereas roe deer did, or could not, occupy these exposed, open habitats and were confined to the relict woodlands in just a few parts of the Scottish Highlands.
• Following the end of the first world war, it was realised that there was a need for a strategic reserve of home-grown timber and the Forestry Commission was formed in 1919 to fulfill this aim. These new forests were even-aged plantations, mainly of introduced, high-yielding conifers, and many have now reached, or are reaching, their second rotation. Woodland cover is now some 13% of Scotland's land surface.
• Red deer living on open hill land often broke into plantations during winter, but have now colonised most forests and are resident within them all year round.

3 Red deer populations

• Red deer are found on c.3.25-3.5 million hectares of the Scotish uplands, or just over 40% of Scotland. However, most are concentrated on half this area - mainly on private estates called "deer forests". These are preserved hunting areas usually on open hill ground and managed primarily for red deer stalking.
• The Red Deer Commission (now the Deer Commission for Scotland- DCS) was formed under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1959 to advise Government on all deer matters, to integrate deer management with other land uses and to oversee and promote deer welfare.
• The DCS has counted the red deer stocks on open hill ground since its inception. Around 400.000 ha are counted each year. The estimated total red deer population on open hill ground in Scotland has risen from around 180K in 1959 to >300K now.
• Densities vary according to the different culling pressures, habitats and land uses in various locations, but 15 deer km² are frequently found in the main parts of the red deer range. Densities on the winter ranges are much higher and can exceed 100 deer km².
• The reasons for the increase in deer numbers have been attributed to 1) a series of mild winters with little natural mortality, 2) reduced competition with domestic stock (particularly hill sheep) and 3) an increase in supplementary winter feeding, especially of hinds in recent years. However, the culling rate of hinds has been far lower than the recruitment rate in many areas and for many years, and underculling is undoubtedly the main reason for such an increase in red deer numbers.
• The management problem is that red deer do not recognise estate boundaries and, therefore individual deer managers are trying to manage joint stocks of deer. Until the DCS was formed there was little overt cooperation between estates.
• The DCS has been successful in creating Deer Management Groups (DMGs). These are voluntary organisations composed of local land users designed to manage red deer over wider areas than the individual estate and for more reasons than purely sportshooting. Each DMG has a more or less self-contained red deer population and just over 50 have now been formed covering most of the red deer range.

4 Red deer and NATURA sites

The main problems are associated with woodlands. Many of Scotland`s NATURA woodlands are small and fragmented. They do not only have resident deer populations, but frequently have incursions of large numbers of deer from neighbouring land - particularly red deer from adjacent "deer forests". or from forestry plantations.

• Fencing deer from these sites is not now regarded as the preferred option:

  > Costs: Fences are expensive to erect and maintain in exposed, upland areas: they cost c.120 AS m², last only c.20 years and, therefore, more than one generation of fence would be needed to protect the regenerating woodland. They are not always effective and may be covered by snow in some Winters allowing deer to invade; they are also prone to snow, wind and avalanche damage.

  > Access: Fences are intrusive on the landscape, especially in wilderness areas, and impede access for people using the hills for recreation.

  > "Bird-strikes": Deer fences are the main cause of adult mortality in important species of woodland grouse such as capercaillie, black and red grouse.

  > Ecoloqical_qrounds: It is ecologically desirable for woodland to regenerate in the presence of its native herbivores - albeit at densities low enough to allow regeneration. If herbivores are absent, different plant communities, or the composition of existing communities, would be different to the more "natural" communities that would evolve when the native herbivores were present.

• However, in some areas fencing may be the only practical solution.

5 Consequences of reducing deer stocks

• The perceived wisdom is that deer densities would have to be 5-6 deer km² before the regeneration of native woodlands could occur.
• Deer forest managers are concerned that reducing deer stocks to these levels will affect their stalking and thus have effects on their income, employment and the capital value of their estate. In addition they fear that if deer densities are reduced on neighbouring ground (such as on a NATURA site) "their" deer will emigrate to the areas of low density - the so-called "vacuum effect".
• However, reducing stocks on deer forests neighbouring NATURA sites may not have such an detrimental effect on their stalking as is currently feared because of the effects of density on deer performance.
• Red deer living on open hill ground have a poor performance in terms of body weight and size and reproductive output, and mortality can be high in some winters. Hinds do not reach puberty until they are 2 years 4 months or 3 years 4 months old; a few fertile yearlings may be found in some good habitats or where density is particularly low. By contrast, in continental woodlands all yearlings and adults are invariably fertile. Density has a pronounced effect on all the above population parameters and deer densities in Scotland are much higher than in continental Europe.
• In addition, high densities of hinds, and their consequent heavy grazing on the preferred grasslands, affect stags who cannot feed on the closely-cropped swards because of their larger muzzles. They are obliged, therefore, to forage on the more abundant, but lower quality vegetation; this affects both their individual performance and local population density.
• Lower deer densities would lead to higher recruitment rates, body weights and size, lower mortality and heavier antlers in stags: all to the benefit of the deer manager.
• A theoretical model has shown that, when stocks are below carrying capacity, in order to cull 10 mature-stags (>6 years) annually, a summer population of 70 stags, 4 hinds and 20 calves is needed. This it much lower than existing densities.
• Additionally, if sportsmen could be persuaded to stalk stags of any age rather than only mature animals - that is, the sport is stalking rather than for the trophy the same number of stags could be shot with a much lower deer stock, to the advantage of other land users.

6 Deer and commercial forestry

• Some 30 - 5OK red deer live in conifer plantations with unknown but significant numbers of roe and sika deer.
• Densities vary for all three species but may reach 35-50 deer km². Density is influenced mainly by forest structure and climate.
• As on the open hill, the performance of red deer is density-related, but in most areas nearly all adult red deer hinds become pregnant and 70% or more of yearlings; pregnant calves have also been recorded.
• British silvicultural practice in the uplands is for short rotations because of the danger of windthrow. This can be as little as 35 years in exceptional circumstances, and frequently less than 50 years. Such short rotations lead to a high proportion of the forest area being in the pre closed-canopy stages which favours all deer species and allows a high carrying-capacity.
• Many NATURA sites are dose to, or within, forestry plantations and are, therefore, very vulnerable to deer incursions.

7 Sika deer

• Of particular concern are sika deer. Sika were introduced into Britain in the late 19th century and in recent decades have expanded their range considerably, aided by the increase in afforestation. They impact on agricultural, forestry and conservation interests in the same ways as red deer.
• There is evidence that sika successfully compete with native roe deer and possibly with red deer: roe and red deer are found in lower densities than expected in areas where sika populations are high.
• Densities of more than 50 sika km² have been recorded with no apparent decline in reproductive capacity. Fertility in adult and yearling females is high and in some areas 30% of calves have been found to be pregnant. Population growth is, therefore, rapid and culls of more than 25% of the female population will be necessary to maintain the current population let alone reduce it.
• Sika hybridise with red deer and produce fertile offspring. Hybrids have been recorded in many parts of Scotland. Because of the difficulties in controlling sika populations in dense woodland, it is considered that little can be done to prevent their continued spread and consequently the risk of complete hybridisation with the native red deer. The spread of sika can only be slowed down through heavy control, especially at the edges of their current range.
• Refugia are being planned on some of the Hebridean Islands where sika have always been absent. These will be kept "sika-free" and managed to preserve the Scottish red deer genotype.
• With non-native animals introduced for sport, such as sika deer, we have a case of not only the NATURA habitats being compromised, but also the native species inhabiting them.

NATURA woodlands are invariably within or adjacent to areas with other land uses, whether this be open ground used for sport shooting or forestry plantations with resident deer populations. These important woodlands cannot be managed in isolation from these adjacent land uses, and a holistic view of management is essential. Large game animals cannot be managed on small parcels of land and there must be integrated land management over a wider area.

References

Staines B W 1998. The management of red deer (Cervus elaphus) In the context of other land uses In Scotland. In: Recent developments in Deer Bloloqvy Proc. III Int. Congr. on the Biology of Deer, Edinburgh 1994. MLURI & Moredun Inst. Edinb., 385-400.

Staines B W 1999a,b Current issues concerning red deer (Cervvs elaphus) in Scotland. Deer 11:1, 11:2