Final answer:
The deer population crashed after overshoot due to lack of resources; overshoots occur when a species' population exceeds environmental carrying capacity, depleting resources and causing a crash. Ecological disturbances from such events underscore the importance of maintaining a balanced ecosystem.
Step-by-step explanation:
The deer population crashed after the overshoot because there were not enough resources and all the deer suffered as a consequence. An overshoot occurs when a species' population exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment, which is the maximum population size an environment can sustain indefinitely given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. When this happens, the resources become depleted, leading to a population crash.
Overshoots can cause a series of ecological disturbances. For example, fewer predators such as cougars can lead to a surge in prey population such as deer. This, in turn, can lead to overconsumption of vegetation, altering the landscape and reducing biodiversity. Similar ecological impacts have been observed in various regions around the world, illustrating the importance of balanced predator-prey dynamics.
Therefore, when considering the impacts of indiscriminate hunting and other human activities on local ecosystems, it is crucial to monitor predator numbers, prey populations, availability of resources like nutrients in soil, and ecological balance to ensure that neither overshoots nor crashes occur.