Correlations between Fecal Nitrogen and Diet Composition in Free-Ranging Black-Tailed Deer

Correlations between fecal nitrogen (N) and diet composition of black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) were examined to gauge how well fecal N could predict diet quality. Correlation coefficients were generally weak and inconsistent between study years. Diet composition variables were s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Southwestern naturalist 1994-06, Vol.39 (2), p.165-170
Main Authors: Massey, Brian N., Weckerly, Floyd W., Vaughn, Charles E., McCullough, Dale R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Deer
Diet
Feces composition
Forage
Forbs
Nitrogen
Nutritional adequacy
Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
Rumen
Summer
Winter
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Summary:Correlations between fecal nitrogen (N) and diet composition of black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) were examined to gauge how well fecal N could predict diet quality. Correlation coefficients were generally weak and inconsistent between study years. Diet composition variables were significant predictors of fecal N but the coefficients of determination were small (0.16 in summer, 0.31 in winter). Fecal N appears to be useful only for confirming broad (i.e., winter to summer) seasonal trends in diet quality for free-ranging cervids.
ISSN:0038-4909
DOI:10.2307/3672242