Richard F. Harlow

On the Ouachita National Forest of Arkansas and Oklahoma, mean total forage yields in various age shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) stands ranged from 1,914 kg/ha in young stands to 172 kg/ha beneath mature stands. Forage nutrient analysis in late summer revealed low phosphorus (0.12%), low crude protein (7.72%), high calcium (1.07%), and wide Ca:P ratio (9.5) averages. Average crude protein was significantly higher (8.22%) in stands with site index <61 than in stands with site index ≥61 (7.23%). Timber stand age and basal area related to deer (Odocoileus virginianus) forage yields will...

Seasonal prediction models for understory production from simple overstory measurements were developed using regression analysis. During the summer of 1976 and winter of 1976-1977, production of understory vegetation was recorded by species or species groups in timber stands on the Savannah River Plant using a 100% clip method. Overstory density and basal area were also recorded. Sampled timber stands ranged from pine regeneration sites with measurable overstory (stems > 3 cm dbh) to immature sawtimber of pine and upland hardwoods. Quadratic equations using basal area of all stems...

The rumen contents of 384 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) collected seasonally from the Savannah River Project in South Carolina were compared with 184 rumen samples collected from six widely scattered areas throughout the Southeastern Coastal Plain. The two sets of rumina differed significantly in the volume of hardened woody twigs and fungi in the spring, dry leaves and fungi in the fall, and succulent twigs in the winter. The decision to collect local samples or rely on regionwide completed studies will depend on the intensity of management and the feasibility of collecting...

An analysis was made of 956 rumen samples collected from whitetailed deer in the Appalachian Mountain, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain provinces in the Southeast during the four seasons. The study indicated that deer select the same type of diet seasonally although foraging in ecologically different areas. Hardened woody twigs had the lowest frequency of occurrence and lowest volume of all food categories. Green leaves of woody plants ranked highest in frequency of occurrence and volume. Mushrooms ranked third in frequency of occurrence and fifth in total volume. The annual contribution of...

An evaluation of published work on the deer track count census method indicates the popularly used 1:1 relationship between tracks across roads and number of deer on an area can be neither rejected nor accepted. The day-to-day variability in deer track crossings usually requires a large number of consecutive counts to detect changes in populations. Procedures for determining the required number of counts are presented. A perennial problem confronting game technicians is that of obtaining an accurate population census of wildlife. The deer track count method, commonly employed in the...