Issue Date
1997-05-01Keywords
chaparralbrowse plants
continuous grazing
species diversity
Odocoileus virginianus
diet
rotational grazing
natural grasslands
cattle
seasonal variation
botanical composition
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Martinez, A., Molina, V., Gonzáles, F., Marroquín, J. S., & Navar, J. (1997). Observations of white-tailed deer cattle diets in Mexico. Journal of Range Management, 50(3), 253-257.Publisher
Society for Range ManagementJournal
Journal of Range ManagementDOI
10.2307/4003725Additional Links
https://rangelands.org/Abstract
Most rangelands in northern Nuevo Leon, Mexico, have been grazed intensely for more than 10 years simultaneously by cattle and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus texanus). There is a lack of information concerning diet selection of white-tailed deer and cattle in this region. We observed the dietary preferences of these ungulates in northeastern Nuevo Leon for a 6 month period. Two adjacent areas were subjected to rotational grazing (RG) and continuous cattle grazing (CG). Fecal analysis was used to determine dietary overlap of these 2 sympatric ruminants. Cattle diets averaged 70% grasses, 23% browse, and 4% forbs. Deer diets were 63% browse, 24% forbs and 12% grasses in both areas. The preferred species for cattle in both areas were grasses. Deer preferred fortes on the continuous grazed area and grasses on rotational grazed area. Zacate toboso [Hilaria mutica (Buckl.] Benth.) was the most preferred species by both ruminants in both management systems. Differences between cattle and deer diets were significant (P < 0.05). The similarity index was higher on the rotational grazed (23%) than on the continuous grazed area (15%) (P < 0.05). The higher similarity index in RG area may have been a result of the altered forage preferences of deer. Zacate toboso under RG could be an important feed resource in those areas where white-tailed deer and cattle graze in common.Type
textArticle
Language
enISSN
0022-409Xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.2307/4003725