Effects of supplemental feed and white‐tailed deer density on vegetation

摘要：

Southwestern Texas is at the xeric edge of the range of white‐tailed deer ( Odocoileus v irginianus ) in North America.Land managers commonly provide dry, pelleted feeds to increase white‐tailed deer nutritional status.Provision of pelleted feeds may alleviate constraints on foraging time, enabling herbivores to selectively feed on the most palatable plants, potentially resulting in habitat degradation ( Murden and Risenhoover 1993 ).We tested the hypothesis that compared to no supplemental feeding, provision of pelleted feed results in habitat degradation.We predicated an interaction between increasing density of white‐tailed deer and feeding treatment, in which high density and supplemental feeding reduces canopy cover of forbs and shrubs eaten by deer and reduces forb species richness compared to low density and no supplemental feeding.

关键词： foraging forbs habitat species richness

作者: Timothy E.Fulbright Charles A.DeYoung David G.Hewitt Eric Grahmann Reagan Gage Ryan Darr Don Draeger

作者单位: Caesar K leberg Wildlife Research Institute,Texas A & M University-Kingsville,MSC 218,Kingsville,Tex Comanche Ranch,Carrizo Springs,Texas,USA 78834

会议类型: 国际会议

会议名称: 2008世界草地与草原大会

会议地点: 呼和浩特

会议语种:英文

在线出版日期: 2008-06-29（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）