Influence of white-tailed deer population density on vegetation standing crop in a semiarid environment

Diet selection theory predicts that selective foraging by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) may reduce palatable and nutritious plants when high-quality food resources are available or deer densities are high. Our objectives were to determine if providing a high-quality food resource ad lib...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of wildlife management 2015-04, Vol.79 (3), p.413-424
Main Authors: Crider, Brandi L., Fulbright, Timothy E., Hewitt, David G., Deyoung, Charles A., Grahmann, Eric D., Priesmeyer, Whitney J., Wester, David B., Echols, Kim N., Draeger, Don
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal populations
browse
compensatory growth
Crops
Deer
Drought
Food
Food resources
Forage
Foraging
Foraging behavior
Forbs
Grasses
habitat
Habitat Relations
Nutritive value
Odocoileus virginianus
plant community
Plants
Population density
Ranches
Resource availability
semiarid
Semiarid environments
Spring
standing crop
Summer
Vegetation
Wildlife
Wildlife management
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Summary:Diet selection theory predicts that selective foraging by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) may reduce palatable and nutritious plants when high-quality food resources are available or deer densities are high. Our objectives were to determine if providing a high-quality food resource ad libitum and increasing deer densities 1) reduced standing crop and nutritional quality of forbs and 2) altered standing crop and nutritional quality of grasses and shrubs. We used 6 81-ha controlled-density enclosures on each of 2 study sites in southern Texas with deer densities considered low (12 deer/km2), medium (31 deer/km2), and high (50 deer/km2) relative to the range of population estimates for white-tailed deer in the Rio Grande Plains of Texas. For each pair of enclosures with the same deer density at each study site, we provided white-tailed deer in 1 enclosure high-quality pelletized feed ad libitum and did not provide feed (control) in the other enclosure. During spring and summer 2004–2012, we estimated standing crop of forage in 40 0.25-m2 × 1.5-m volumetric plots/enclosure and we harvested 20 randomly selected plots/enclosure, which we dried to convert wet mass estimates to dry mass. Availability of high-quality pelletized food and deer density did not affect (P≥0.392) forb standing crop during spring and summer. Forb, browse, and grass standing crop and nutritional quality varied (P
ISSN:0022-541X
1937-2817
DOI:10.1002/jwmg.856