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Elk, Mule Deer, and Cattle Foraging Relationships on Foothill and Mountain Rangeland
Author
Torstenson, Wendy L. F.
Mosley, Jeffrey C.
Brewer, Tracy K.
Tess, Michael W.
Knight, James E.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2006-01-01
Body

Foraging niche overlap among Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni), Rocky Mountain mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus), and cattle (Bos taurus) was studied for 2 years on 37 000 ha of nonforested foothill and mountain habitat in northwestern Wyoming. Microhistological analysis was used to quantify botanical composition of ungulate diets from monthly fecal collections. Feeding habitat use was determined through monthly surveys from fixed-wing aircraft to record nonsolitary animals in nonforested habitat. Kulcyznski’s similarity index was used to calculate dietary and feeding habitat overlap among the 3 ungulates, and these 2 indices were multiplied together to estimate foraging niche overlap. In all seasons, elk and cattle consumed grass-dominated diets (mean = 61% and 81%, respectively), although elk diets were more diverse. Mule deer consumed more forbs and shrubs than either elk or cattle (P < 0.10). Foraging niche overlap was high (45%) between mule deer and elk in spring. Cattle in summer and fall had 60% foraging niche overlap with elk in spring, indicating that, in spring, elk foraged in many of the same places (largely sagebrush grassland) and ate diets similar in botanical composition to what cattle did during summer and fall (principally Festuca idahoensis, Pseudoroegneria spicata, and Achnatherum spp.). Foraging niche overlap also was high (41%-51%) between elk in winter and cattle in summer and fall. Therefore, if competitive or complementary relationships existed between elk and cattle, these interactions most likely occurred on sagebrush grasslands where cattle use in summer-fall was followed by elk use in winter-spring. We recommend that resource managers focus their forage utilization and range trend monitoring in foothill sagebrush grasslands.  The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020 Legacy DOIs that must be preserved: 10.2458/azu_jrm_v59i1_torstenson

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2111/05-001R1.1
Additional Information
Torstenson, W. L., Mosley, J. C., Brewer, T. K., Tess, M. W., & Knight, J. E. (2006). Elk, mule deer, and cattle foraging relationships on foothill and mountain rangeland. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 59(1), 80-87.
ISSN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/643407
Journal Volume
59
Journal Number
1
Journal Pages
80-87
Collection
Rangeland Ecology & Management (REM)
Journal Name
Rangeland Ecology & Management
Keywords
dietary overlap
food habits
foraging niche overlap
habitat use
resource petitioning
wildlife-livestock relationships