Monitoring Mule Deer Diet Quality and Intake with Fecal Indices

Abstract

Few studies have evaluated fecal indices for monitoring diet quality and intake of North American deer. We conducted 11 digestion trials with black-tailed (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus Richardson) and mule deer (0. h. hemionus Rafmesque) to examine relationships between several chemical constituents of deer feces (i.e., fecal nitrogen, fecal 2,6diaminopimelic acid (DAPA), fecal neutral detergent fiber (NDF), fecal acid detergent fiber, and fecal acid detergent lignin) and dry matter intake, digestible energy, digestible energy intake, diet crude protein content, crude protein digestibility, and digestible crude protein intake. We developed regression equations to predict diet quality and intake and also evaluated 2 alternative methods (organic matter basis and neutral detergent fiber (ndt) basis) for quantifying fecal indices. Concentrations of DAPA, fecal NDF, and fecal N were the most precise for estimating diet quality and intake. Extracts from 5 of 11 diets precipitated only small amounts of protein and influence of tannins on protein digestion probably was slight. Quantifying fecal indices per unit organic matter and neutral detergent fiber in the feces was comparable to the standard dry matter basis and under some field conditions should improve their predictive ability. We believe our best equations are suitable for management purposes where diets are similar and intake and quality are believed to be within the ranges we documented.

Interpreting faecal nitrogen as a non-invasive indicator of diet quality and body condition in contexts of high ungulate density

“…Since protein content and digestibility are positively correlated in plants (Robbins 1983), faecal nitrogen (FN) is therefore a common index that is correlated with the intake of proteins and dietary digestibility (Leslie and Starkey 1985;Hodgman et al 1996). FN has been widely used as an index of dietary quality in the Communicated by C. Gortázar * Antonio J. Carpio carpio86@hotmail.com 1 nutritional ecology of free-ranging and captive ruminants (Hamel et al 2009;Leslie et al 2008).…”

MODIS time series contribution for the estimation of nutritional properties of alpine grassland

“…Islam et al [2011] reported a high correlation between NDVI and nitrogen content of maize plants, but only at one specific phenological stage (8-leaf stage). Other studies linked NDVI with faecal crude protein (FCP) of large herbivores, which is considered a reliable indicator of the quality of vegetation [Cordova et al, 1978;Leslie and Starkey, 1985;Hodgman et al, 1996]. For example, Ryan et al [2012] showed a positive relationship between log transformed NDVI and nitrogen faecal content of African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and Hamel et al [2009] found a negative relationship between integrated NDVI in June and the date of the peak in FCP of mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) and bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis).…”

Fecal-FT-NIRS as a Noninvasive Tool for Assessing Diet Quality of Mediterranean Deer

“…Because N is an element of the amino acids that make up proteins, it is the most common constituent used to evaluate the nutritional quality of the diet of wild (Leslie and Starkey 1987;Irwin et al 1993;Hodgman et al 1996;Blanchard et al 2003) and domestic ruminants (Arman et al 1975;Moore et al 2004). This is positively correlated with the digestibility of the diet as well (Irwin et al 1993).…”