Research by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, which was commissioned by the Game Animal Council, has confirmed that deer and other ungulates have little overall impact on the carbon storage of our intact indigenous forests and that biodiversity must remain the objective of management. Read the GAC’s statement on the release of the report here.
The objectives of the research were to provide:
An assessment of the probable short, medium, and long-term impacts of deer on native forest carbon stores at three broad levels of deer abundance (low, medium, and high).
A comparison of the likely nature of possum effects on carbon stores relative to the effects of deer.
A brief assessment of the reversibility and manageability of deer effects on carbon storage and emissions, focussed mainly on tall forest types.
The findings, include the following:
National forest carbon estimates show no overall decline nationally.
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- Variation occurs among forest-types with kāmahi-podocarp forests suffering significant decline in carbon stocks, with other forest types likely to be increasing.
- The cause of declines in kāmahi forest types reflect several processes, one of which relates to deer.
Deer reduce the regeneration of preferred species but create enhanced regeneration of non-preferred species.
Significant differences exist in the effects of deer and possums on forest carbon with the reversibility of possum effects having a disproportionately greater benefit than the reversibility of deer effects.
The assumption that management of deer aimed at maximising forest C sequestration will automatically benefit conservation may not always be valid.
Carbon emissions by wild deer are small.
The report suggests that it is in successional or regenerative forests where deer management can have an impact on increasing carbon storage. It also strongly supports the case for game animal management to be undertaken to help achieve biodiversity goals, which is in line with the Te Ara ki Mua Wild Animal Management Framework.