Livestock Deer Relations in the Lodgepole Pine-Pumice Region of Central Oregon

Abstract

Utilization by cattle, sheep, and deer on meadow communities and logged and nonlogged lodgepone pine/bitterbrush/western needlegrass communities was studied during the summer grazing season of a dry (1973) and a wet (1974) year in the pumice region of Klamath County, Oregon. Deer had a forb-dominated diet in the meadows while sheep and cattle had a grass-grasslike-dominated diet. Only six forb species of the 34 meadow species utilized were found to constitute any substantial degree of overlap between the diets of deer and livestock. Bitterbrush gradually replaced the maturing forbs in the diets of deer during July. Bitterbrush was the most important forage species in the diets of all three herbivores using the lodgepole pine/bitterbrush/western needlegrass communities. Logged areas received the bulk of utilization from all three herbivores. Sheep and deer utilized 2.5 and 7-10 times more forage, respectively, in logged areas, while cattle used only the fringes of unlogged areas. Fall was the peak consumption period for bitterbrush by cattle and deer, while sheep consumed large quantities throughout the summer grazing season.