Deer grazing – enclosure experiment

We have a truly fascinating experiment running at present in Upper Glen Affric. A system of enclosure cages was built a few years ago, with help from a helicopter, in order to quantify the effect of deer grazing on high altitude plant communities. We were back again at site this week to see what changes are evident, and it is now clear that some effects can be seen on the lower arrays of cages (500-600m) whereas at higher elevations (800-900m) the plants still look similar inside and outside the cages. Another fascinating aspect of the work has been to see how much the snow pack moves in the winter, and to see the destructive power of avalanches in the corrie – every year we have had to repair some cages!