GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Who is Responsible for the Size of Our Deer Population?

13-04-2005, 07:28 AM

In message ,
writes
But surely Angus when the main pressure was taken off a number of years
ago this principle you have quoted before that it causes faster breeding
would by now have been making a really noticeable difference.

Again not necessarily. Just look at fish stocks gererally. They have
declined because of over fishing.

SNIP

The fact remains Angus that you have frequently said that animals breed
faster because their numbers have been reduced.

Yes, but there's a point where the populations are so depleted that
the increased fecundity doesn't catch up.

Ever? So are you saying the animals unconsciously know we have got
below a certain population switch off the increased fecundity?

Or are you saying the increased fecundity can never bring the population
back to where it was.

You have even claimed
it to be well known fact.

It is.

Can you point me to a standard written work which says this?

Can you explain why it does not apply in farmed animals?

Can you explain them why there has not been a
large increase in the whale population since the main pressures of
whaling were removed?

In some cases the whale population has increased but in others their
food source has been reduced due to man's activities. I red only last
week that plankton was much reduced in some areas for some reason I
can't recall. It might have been changing currents due to the water
warming or cooling.

There has been an increase in whale populations but not at a speed
which shows any signs of being higher than the "normal" breeding rate
for the species. Why didn't the increased fecundity kick in?
--
Malcolm Kane