Seasonal Changes In Nutritive Value Of Deer Food Plants In South Texas
Twenty-six native forage species were collected during each season of the year on the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in the central portion of the Texas Rio Grande Plam and analyzed for percentage content of crude protein (CP), phosphorus (P) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (DMD). Average values for all species during spring. summer. fall and winter were: CP 18.4, 15.4, 16.6 and 17.1; P 0.23, 0.18, 0.19 and 0.19 DMD 61.7, 56.2. 53.3 and 61.1. Average CP of shrubs and forbs was 14 or greater during all seasons of the year, grasses varied from 12.5 in summer to 14.4 in winter, and...