Range animal diet composition in southcentral Wyoming
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Authors: K. R. Ngugi, J. Powell, F. C. Hinds, and R. A. Olson
Date: 1992
Journal: Journal of Range Management
Volume: 45
Number: 6
Pages: 542-545
Summary of Methods: The significance of shrubs in the diets of cattle, deer, elk, pronghorn and sheep grazing two different shrub communities (a big sagebrush community and a mountain shrubland) were studied in southcentral Wyoming for one year. Dung samples for all ungulates were collected in spring, summer and fall. Diet composition (to genus) was determined from fecal samples.
Article Summary / Main Points: Shrubs are an important component of ungulate diets, especially for deer and pronghorn. Big sagebrush and antelope bitter brush were major components in pronghorn diets. Cattle, elk, and sheep consumed mostly grasses and grass-like plants (i.e., sedges and rushes). Forbs and shrubs other than sagebrush and bitterbrush were not abundant in the plant communities and were only a small component of diets.
Vegetation Types: Sagebrush Steppe
MLRA Ecoregions: 34A Cool Central Desertic Basins and Plateaus
Agrovoc Control Words: Grazing Rangelands Ungulates
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: common use grazing, shrub communities, livestock-wildlife relationships
Annotation: This replicated study was conducted at two locations, over one year. The results from this study are applicable to sagebrush dominated rangelands. As with all grazing studies these results are most applicable to regions of similar topography, climate, and ungulate-plant relationships. A longer duration of study would improve the understanding of ungulate relationships with shrub communities and clarify how yearly variation might affect diets in these ungulates on the rangeland types studied.
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