EVALUATING GRAZING STRATEGIES FOR CATTLE - DEER AND CATTLE FOOD PARTITIONING

We studied resource partitioning between cattle and deer (Odocoileus v irginianus Boddaert) within replicated treatments of continuous and sh ort-duration grazing at heavy and moderate stocking rates. We recorded food habits using the bite-count technique with tame white-tailed dee r, and the esophageal fistula technique with steers. Through use of ca nonical discriminant analysis, we found diets of cattle and deer to be distinct (P < 0.05) from each other in every treatment throughout the sampling period. Overall, deer used mostly forbs (72%) whereas cattle primarily used grasses (60%) and forbs (39%). We also evaluated sensi tivity to pasture conditions created by cattle grazing by comparing di ets across treatments, especially during the summer months (May throug h September) and the second winter, which was affected by drought. Out of a possible 48 treatment combinations compared, deer selected diffe rent diets 21 times whereas cattle selected different diets 16 times. Deer were more sensitive than cattle to grazing treatments. Cattle wer e most sensitive to treatments during the first summer and second wint er. Deer were the least sensitive to the grazing treatments during spr ing, when their diets were similar across all treatments. We recommend moderate stocking rates to reduce dietary overlap between cattle and deer and continuous grazing or less intensive grazing systems to creat e an environment where deer can select greater amounts of forbs.