Balancing economic development, biological conservation, and human culture: The sitka black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis as an ecological indicator

Economic development, biological conservation, and human culture are interrelated and ultimately interdependent. Balancing them, however, is one of the most vexing problems in natural resource management. The problem can be simplified when an ecological indicator provides a meaningful integration of the biological response of the natural ecosystem to economic development. Sitka black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis are an important ecological indicator of resource management in the coastal, coniferous rain forests of southeastern Alaska, USA, because of four significant reasons: (1) their biology and ecology are well-known; (2) they have relatively large, seasonally migratory home ranges and so required management of landscapes rather than isolated patches of habitat; (3) their need for a productive and nutritious food supply year-around makes them largely dependent on old-growth forests and a variety of habitats, differing seasonally and in response to snow; and (4) they are an important game species in the subsistence economy of rural residents. Key ecological relations between deer and their food resources center on bioenergetics, digestible protein, and the role of forest overstory in the species composition, carbon/nutrient balance, and chemical composition of understory plants. Understanding these factors provides quantitative guidelines for timber management in an ecologically and culturally balanced framework.