Supplementalreportwithaddons 2

Parks Department staff were particularly alarmed by the impact of overbrowsing of deer on the South Mountain Reservation, where the understory had been eaten away from most of the 2,047acre park and the survival of plant and other animal communities was seriously threatened. In more recent years, expressions of concern for the forest ecology have been echoed by the South Mountain Conservancy and New Jersey Audubon. In March, 2006, the County of Essex received a Landscape and Infrastructure Assessment and Restoration Management Plan for the South Mountain Reservation, prepared by Professional Planning and Engineering Corporation (PPE). Recommendations for management of deer presented in that plan were based on a Deer Management Report issued by The Louis Berger Group, Inc. in November, 2005. Louis Berger and PPE noted that deer populations had been browsing on the understory of the forest at levels that were changing the vegetative species composition and disrupting the natural landscape. In addition, deer impacts were affecting the visitor's visual experience and the historic and scenic value of many areas in the largest park in the oldest County park system in the United States. The impact of the high deer population on the forest ecology in South Mountain Reservation was most evident at the herbaceous and shrub layers of the understory. Tree seedlings, forbs, wildflowers, shrubs and even an accumulation of leaf litter had largely disappeared. The future effect on the forest was foretold as the tree canopy was thinning in some areas and not being replaced due to a lack of seedlings and saplings. About 80% of the 2,047-acre park is forested. More than 75% of that area consists of an evenly aged stand of trees with low species diversity and minimal understory. The early successional habitat found in seedlings and saplings stands has been eliminated by deer overbrowsing, which precludes the possibility of forest regeneration. In some areas, the lack of an understory has allowed the incursion of huge quantities of invasive plants, which deer won't eat and which provide little or no food or shelter resources to other wildlife. Massive stands of Japanese knotweed are prevalent along many of the roads and at the edges of meadows and activity areas. Japanese stiltgrass covers acres of the forest floor. A survey of vegetation species found throughout South Mountain

e prevalent along many of the roads and at the edges of meadows and activity areas. Japanese stiltgrass covers acres of the forest floor. A survey of vegetation species found throughout South Mountain Reservation as part of the PPE study identified 98 different tree, shrub and herbaceous species. Eleven of those species are invasive plants not native to North America. The loss of vegetation due to overbrowsing by deer was leading to an increase in erosion and a decline in stream and lake water quality. Slope areas and hiking trails that were most badly eroded were in areas where the herbaceous layer of the forest had been stripped away. Instead of rainwater seeping into the porous ground of a healthy forest, thereby filtering pollutants and assimilating nutrients, the water was running quickly over the hardened slopes, washing soil with it and causing a decrease in water quality in the park's streams. 4