the next generation will be more successful [in explaining 

 population regulation] . . . They might start by doubting the 

 truth of everything that has so far been written on the 

 subject, including the ideas of the present reviewer." 



When examined from a broad perspective, the many theories 

 are not all that far apart (Murray 1979) and are not 

 necessarily mutually exclusive. Perhaps one failing of 

 regulation theory thus far has been the tendency to draw into 

 opposing camps and look for and promote a unifying theory or 

 model which may not exist. 



An Alternative Theoretical Framework 



We begin explaining our proposed theoretical framework 

 with a discussion of the perspective from which we reached our 

 conclusions. This is necessary because many past theoretical 

 disagreements (even about the meaning of the same data sets) 

 have been rooted in the different perspectives of the 

 contending writers . The reader must be aware that the 

 interpretation of our data is based on the following 

 conditions : 



1. The environment and especially the weather is extremely 

 variable. This was also reflected in vegetation-forage 

 production. 



2 . The area was not fenced and was surrounded by adequate 

 "dispersal sinks". 



3. An effective, facultative natural predator coexists with 

 the deer on this area. 



4. Human predation (hunting) in varying degrees of 

 effectiveness is practiced on the area. 



5. We examined attributes of the environment concurrently 

 with deer population dynamics, behavior, and habitat 

 selection and use. 



6 . We related our information to other studies in Montana 

 and elsewhere as we proceeded. We did not focus our 

 thinking entirely on one study population. 



Most general theories of population regulation have 

 emphasized stability and the Nicholsonian "balance of nature". 

 Ehrlich and Birch (1967) have criticized this perspective, and 

 for the most part, we agree with their criticisms. We, by 

 virtue of exposure to our study population, emphasize 

 variability in our conclusions. On the other hand, we also 

 have a broader perspective. Species populations over this 

 planet are faced with a wide variety of possible environments 



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