Photo: Laurie Campbell
To predict future populations of deer, deer managers need to estimate how many young deer are likely to be recruited to the population in any year. For this they need estimates of:
- The number of female deer in the population
- The number of young deer that will be born, and survive to adulthood, per female.
The latter is the recruitment rate. An estimate of the recruitment rate is the ratio of young deer to adult females in the culled population. For this estimate to be precise, a large number of culled deer is needed.
To provide deer managers with this information we have analysed data on deer culled from Forestry Commission land since 1999. This has enabled us to provide estimates of recruitment rate specific to particular Forest Districts. These estimates are provided in the manual for the red deer population dynamics model.
For further information
Contact
Dr Helen Armstrong
Centre for Human and Ecological Sciences
Forest Research
Northern Research Station
Roslin
Midlothian EH25 9SY
Tel: +44 (0)131 445 6954
Fax: +44 (0)131 445 7335
Email: helen.armstrong@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
