Deer eat a lot! As they feed, they can affect plants, animals and even insects. Deer like some plants more than others, which can lead to fewer plant species in your woods.

Many studies have emphasized agriculture’s negative impact on wildlife as farming became more intensive after World War II. But some changes in upland wildlife habitat on Illinois farms were greater before World War II than after it, according to a recent study that evaluated wildlife habitat from 1920 to 1987.

The wild turkey has pulled off a stunning comeback in Wisconsin – but has the turkey’s success come at the expense of local grouse populations? That question has been muted a bit this year as the 10-year grouse cycle approaches its peak, but it often arises when turkeys move in. It was especially common when grouse numbers bottomed out earlier this decade.

When Wisconsin eagles and ospreys didn’t reproduce normally in the 1960s and 1970s, wildlife biologists identified the culprit – high levels of chemical contaminants in the environment and eggs.

Nina Leopold Bradley will be joined by her three living siblings to celebrate the inaugural lecture of the Aldo Leopold Lecture Series in Natural Resources. The lecture is scheduled for April 21, 3:30 p. m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin State Historical Society Auditorium, 816 State Street, Madison. A public reception will follow the lecture.

Rotational grazing may be an acceptable alternative to fencing livestock out of streams, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The researchers are comparing the ecological effects of grassy buffer strips, woody buffer strips, continuous grazing and rotational grazing along trout streams.

Looking at the hours he puts in under a 20 percent teaching appointment, a casual observer might see workaholism. But Scott Craven enjoys teaching so much that the Spitzer Teaching Award is frosting on the cake for this wildlife ecologist. “I like the material, and I’m blessed with attractive subject matter. I really enjoy working with wildlife, and I hope that my enthusiasm for that is contagious,” he says.

Stan Temple has championed a shift toward a conservation philosophy premised on preserving biological diversity and maintaining ecosystem health.

Kitty turns killer when allowed to roam, and in rural Wisconsin, that spells doom for native songbirds as well as mice and other pest species. Studies have shown that nearly all free-ranging cats even the well-fed ones kill wildlife. A particularly skilled free-ranging house cat may kill more than 1,000 wild animals a year.