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As a volunteer forest steward, Adrian Ayres Fisher manages restoration activities in a 53-acre tract of Cook County, Illinois’ forest preserve. A devoted gardener, Adrian has seen the devastating effect that whitetail deer can have on domestic landscapes; as a forest steward, she finds herself confronting the same animals in a different context. Lacking any effective predators, the deer population has exploded, and its voracious appetite for greenery is having a transformative impact on the woodlands. Wildflowers and undergrowth are disappearing from the forest floor, and native trees that the deer favor as browse are giving way to invasive species, setting off a cascade of effects throughout the ecosystem. Learn the details of the deer’s ecological toll.
