Deer (Cervidae) populations are increasing across the temperate zone, threatening forest biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the fundamental question of what factors make a forest susceptible to deer damage remains unanswered, hampering efforts to mitigate against damage. Previous research has assumed that deer density consistently increases forest damage. However, the effect of deer density is likely to be contingent on a range of other drivers, such as climate and landscape structure. Mitigation measures are expensive, so a sound understanding of these contingencies is required to inform the targeting of appropriate management to forests most at risk of damage. Using records of forest damage from Britain's National Forest Inventory, which comprises over 15,000 plots spanning environmental gradients, we applied a multiscale approach to identify the drivers of forest susceptibility to damage by deer. Damage likelihood was dependent on drivers operating at multiple spatial scales and their interactions. Broadleaved stands with low tree densities and old trees were consistently found to be at high risk across Britain. The statistical influence of surrounding forest cover within 500 m of a site was modified by regional deer density and climate, in addition to landscape‐level perennial cover. The effect of deer density on damage was therefore not straightforward, but context dependent. Synthesis and applications. We predict the likely outcome of afforestation initiatives on the likelihood that a forest site will be damaged by deer, with important implications for management and landscape planning in Britain. The complex interactive effects uncovered are difficult to interpret. We therefore provide an interactive Deer Damage Tool (R Shiny application; https://spake.shinyapps.io/DEERDAMAGETOOL/) for practitioners to visualize how afforestation is likely to influence the probability of deer damage in different forests and regions across Britain.

Biogeographical regions provide a framework for understanding species’ ecological patterns, yet their application to herbivore dietary studies remains limited. The European roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) presents an ideal candidate for biogeographical dietary analysis due to its widespread distribution and well-documented feeding patterns across Europe. Here, we analysed microhistological diet data using linear mixed-effects models to investigate regional and seasonal variations in roe deer feeding ecology across European Biogeographical Regions (EBRs), moving beyond traditional geographical classifications to understand dietary adaptations. The review encompassed 55 studies (54 included in statistical analyses) conducted over 52 years across 69 sites. While initially covering six EBRs, statistical analyses were constrained to three regions—Atlantic, Continental, and Mediterranean—due to insufficient data from the Boreal, Pannonian, and Alpine regions. We found complex dietary patterns, with intra-regional seasonal shifts in key food categories including coniferous trees, deciduous trees, shrubs, and half-woody plants. The Atlantic region showed significantly higher consumption of grasses, sedges, and rushes compared to Continental regions, while Mediterranean populations exhibited distinct autumn feeding patterns. Despite regional variations, consistent seasonal patterns in forb consumption were observed across all regions, peaking during spring and summer. Our findings suggest that roe deer modulate their feeding strategies according to regional conditions while maintaining some fundamental nutritional patterns. The biogeographical framework provides new understandings of herbivore dietary ecology not evident in previous studies using broader geographical classifications. These findings have important implications for understanding roe deer adaptation and informing regional management strategies.

This article argues that music may be an effective but under-explored metaphor for public theology. Specifically music can act as a helpful metaphor for theologians seeking to respond to three dominant criticisms of public theology, namely: that theology is too particularistic to be relevant to public discourse; that theology (and religion more widely) is harmful and dangerous especially after 9/11; that theology offers nothing that is objective to public discourse. The article responds to these criticisms by pointing out that they can be applied to public music too, but that the world would be impoverished if music (and theology) were simply to be eliminated.

Natural regeneration and tree recruitment are essential for woodland persistence, but deer browsing can disrupt these processes. Browsing impacts are well recognised, yet how local and landscape‐scale drivers shape regeneration, recruitment and herbivore pressure over time remains poorly understood. Using a space‐for‐time approach, we assessed how regeneration, deer activity, browsing damage and tree recruitment vary over time at 82 woodland creation sites across England and Scotland. We used structural equation modelling to test the effects of local and landscape‐scale drivers on these processes in England. Regeneration and tree recruitment rates were significantly higher in England than Scotland. Both countries showed similarly low numbers of successive young tree growth stages, with sapling (51–150 cm) and juvenile (151–200 cm) counts being ~5% and 0.7% of seedling (≤50 cm) counts, respectively. Woodland structural attributes influenced deer activity and browsing damage, both being higher in woodlands with lower basal area and greater structural heterogeneity. Browsing damage was also higher in smaller and denser woodlands but was not directly related to deer activity, indicating that woodland structure better predicts deer browsing than deer activity alone. Despite this, deer activity strongly inhibited tree recruitment, with evidence of recruitment failure above an activity threshold of 2 deer plot ⁻¹ day ⁻¹ . Unexpectedly, browsing damage facilitated tree recruitment, possibly by reducing competition. Regeneration declined with woodland age, but age had no consistent effect on deer activity, browsing damage or tree recruitment. Low regeneration and recruitment in 81–170‐year‐old woodlands suggests suppressed understorey regrowth. Synthesis and applications . Deer activity and browsing damage in woodland creation sites can be reduced through targeted management of structural attributes. Small, dense, structurally heterogeneous woodlands with low basal area are most vulnerable to deer impacts. To ensure continuous tree recruitment, localised deer activity should be minimised, while avoiding complete exclusion to maintain facilitative browsing effects. These actions offer practical means to safeguard ecosystem function and woodland longevity.

The Public Forum and Christian Ethics - November 2000