On poop and predators

Continuing the discussion from the last post, let us pose a new question: what is the climate change impact of our our new neighbors in our land of no predation, all those deer, bunnies, geese, and frickin woodchucks living the life with no foxes and wolves to put them in their place?

Deer, for instance. They eat understory vegetation, making what woods we have left amenable to traipsing and galavanting a most any hour of the day. So what are they doing carbon-wise, are they nibbling down what would be useful carbon sink? Is the loss of greenery offset by the soil enrichment of their caca? Same for bunnies, only smaller. And what of those geese and their issue, is it good for the soil? Does it encourage or hinder growth?

What is the impact of the loss of understory vegetation on forest fire probability? Does it make it more difficult for fires to spread?


On the downside, I saw a neighbor who has lattice-like paving stones in his driveway to let grass grow through trimming the grass with a gas-powered weed eater. The grass is always greener indeed.