Fecal indices of nutritional status of white-tailed deer based on near-infrared reflectance /
| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1990.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | ProQuest, Abstract Link to OAKTrust copy |
| Abstract: | Fecal samples collected during 19 digestion trials conducted with white tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were used to investigate the potential of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIR) for assessing the nutritional status of deer. Results support the hypothesis that NIR can reliably detect and quantify components in deer feces that are related to the concentration, digestibility, and intake of nutrients. Regression models developed to predict dietary nutrient concentrations had higher R's and lower standard errors than those developed to predict nutrient intakes. Only 5 of the 16 measures of nutritional status investigated could be predicted with standard errors that were less than half the standard deviation of the sample data, but standard errors of the predictive models were all less than twice the standard errors of the digestion trials. There was no evidence that models derived from forage rations performed worse than those from pelleted rations, suggesting that secondary plant com pounds do not interfere in determining nutritional status by means of NIR. |
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| Item Description: | Typescript (photocopy). Vita. "Major subject: Wildlife and fisheries sciences." |
| Physical Description: | ix, 62 leaves ; 29 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |