Palatability of Douglasfir Foliage to Mule Deer in Relation to Chemical and Spatial Factors

Relative preference of Douglasfir needles from eight environmental conditions was determined in a feeding trial with penned tame deer of mixed age and sex. Relative preference (percent fresh weight ingested) varied between 0 and 74%, with significant differences between open (16%) and gully (9%) sites, between old (20%) and young (4%) trees, and between tops (16%) and bottoms (8%) of trees. Shading was found to be responsible for some difference in palatability, unshaded being preferred (22%) over shaded needles (4%). Relative preference was found to be correlated with moisture content (r = -0.57). Relative preference was also found to be correlated with chlorogenic acid (r = 0.41), a naturally occurring phenolic ester which was quantified by fluorometric scanning after being observed in a thin layer chromatography (TLC) screening experiment. Crude protein was not significantly correlated with preference.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