At the Macaulay Institute, we’ve been studying red deer
for many years and have a pretty good idea of how they behave,
and what they eat. We have used this knowledge to produce computer
models that predict what effect deer might have on the places
they live. It’s kind of like writing Grand Auto Theft,
but for deer.
We’re writing new software to predict where deer are
likely to be found in the hills. Building on our knowledge of
red deer, it uses information about the vegetation in an area – so
you know how much food is available, and we combine this with
a 3D map which shows where the most sheltered areas are. It’s
a bit like being able to predict that most teenagers will hang
out in the Bon Accord Centre rather than Duthie Park – we
know where there’s plenty to eat and shelter from winter
weather.
In the same way that too many teenagers in one place is not always a
good thing, if you know that particular areas are likely to be
attractive to deer, it’s probably not the best place to
try and plant a new woodland. Deer like to eat young trees and
tend to prevent new ones from growing.
Our new software will be able to produce maps for anywhere
in Scotland, to show the areas that are the most likely to be
affected by deer. We can also predict where the deer will go
instead if you fence off an area to keep the deer out.
As you can imagine this software is hardly going to knock Grand
Auto Theft off the top game rankings, but we think it will be
useful to those people who are trying to look after Scotland’s
hills.
Listen
to the SCIENCE SNAP from Tuesday 15th March
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the Expert
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