'Hobble Creek' big sagebrush vs. antelope bitterbush as a winter forage

From a planting of antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata Purshia DC) and 'Hobble Creek' mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana Rydb. Beetle), pairs of plants were selected to test the following 2 hypotheses: (1) wintering mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) prefer (as measured by percent use and/or grams of dry matter removed) 'Hobble Creek' big sagebrush over antelope bitterbrush, and (2) the winter nutrient content of 'Hobble Creek' forage exceeds that of antelope bitterbrush. Results of this study support the 2 hypotheses. 'Hobble Creek', a monoterpenoid-producing shrub, was preferred by wintering mule deer over a nonmonoterpenoid-producing shrub, antelope bitterbrush. Also, 'Hobble Creek' nutrient content was superior to that of antelope bitterbrush.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 202