CORRELATIONS BETWEEN FECAL NITROGEN AND DIET COMPOSITION IN FREE-RANGING BLACK-TAILED DEER

Correlations between fecal nitrogen (N) and diet composition of black- tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) were examined to gauge h ow well fecal N could predict diet quality. Correlation coefficients w ere generally weak and inconsistent between study years. Diet composit ion variables were significant predictors of fecal N but the coefficie nts of determination were small (0.16 in summer, 0.31 in winter). Feca l N appears to be useful only for confirming broad (i.e., winter to su mmer) seasonal trends in diet quality for free-ranging cervids.