The botanical composition of herbage consumed by domestic sheep, mule deer, domestic cattle and elk from critical big game winter ranges in southcentral Colorado was studied using the fecal analysis technique. The food habits of domestic sheep grazed during the late spring overlapped those of mule deer by 15%, elk 46%, and domestic cattle by 53%. Mule deer diets were 10% similar to cattle and 30% to elk. Elk and cattle diets averaged 39% identical on the study area. The low similarity in diet between domestic stock and mule elk suggests that livestock grazing in the study area could be made compatible with the winter range needs of mule deer, but the potential competition between elk and domestic stock needs additional study. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range 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
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.