Ravagers of Jewelweed

Jewelweed browsed by deer, Schenley Park, Aug 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)

Seven years ago yellow (Impatiens pallida) and orange (Impatiens capensis) jewelweed were so plentiful in Schenley Park that their flowers attracted bumblebees, hummingbirds and my own curiosity. I often blogged about them as in this August 2013 article: Experiments with Jewelweed.

But all that has changed. In the last seven years the deer population in Schenley Park has exploded. Without predators deer can double their population in just two to three years. Two deer became 16 … and Schenley started with more than 2.

Meanwhile, edible plants have not increased exponentially and they can’t keep up with the heavy browsing. Jewelweed is a deer favorite so it’s routinely “mowed” to ankle height.

A large patch of jewelweed ‘mowed’ by deer, Schenley Park, Aug 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)

A few individuals are able to sprout new leaves while the deer consume other areas but these recovering plants are few and far between.

This summer it’s hard to find a complete plant.

Jewelweed sprouts after deer browsing, Aug 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)

The situation bothers me but has posed real problems for Andrea Fetters of the University of Pittsburgh who is studying pollen-associated viruses in Impatiens capensis and Impatiens pallida. She has so few study objects in Schenley Park that she’s had to add study sites north of Pittsburgh where jewelweed thrives because deer aren’t so plentiful.

Unfortunately the number of deer in Schenley Park is not going down any time soon. Predators, other than cars, would solve the problem. My friend Andrea Boykowycz suggests cougars, the “Pitt panther” mascot. It would be fitting to have two in Panther Hollow. Well, we already do but they’re frozen in place.

One of two panther statues at the Panther Hollow Bridge (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Meanwhile, the ravagers of jewelweed keep eating.

(photos by Kate St. John)

3 thoughts on “Ravagers of Jewelweed

  1. I see the jewelweed browsing by deer in rural areas too. How many years ago did we go to the Audubon sponsored conference about the impact of deer on the landscape and solutions? Game Commission biologist Gary Alt spoke that day, we know how that went. I doubt anyone in the Parks Conservancy or the City is willing to take the lead in the city to deal with the deer issue. There are communities in the Pittsburgh area that are dealing with it effectively by allowing police to shoot the deer and contracting to have the deer picked up. I’m not sure if any are hiring sharpshooters to bait and shoot them. All other wildlife suffer the consequences of ignoring the deer issue.
    You can’t have public meetings about this issue because nothing will be done then.

  2. I think there is enough concern to have a discussion about culling deer, up to us as city residents. Let’s get it started – save the jewelweed!

Leave a Reply to Andrea Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *