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The botanical composition of herbage consumed by domestic sheep, mule deer, domestic cattle and elk from critical big game winter ranges in southcentral Colorado was studied using the fecal analysis technique. The food habits of domestic sheep grazed during the late spring overlapped those of mule deer by 15%, elk 46%, and domestic cattle by 53%. Mule deer diets were 10% similar to cattle and 30% to elk. Elk and cattle diets averaged 39% identical on the study area. The low similarity in diet between domestic stock and mule elk suggests that livestock grazing in the study area could be made compatible with the winter range needs of mule deer, but the potential competition between elk and domestic stock needs additional study. Late spring grazing by domestic sheep (i Cook et al. 1962; Van Dyne and Meyer 1964; Wilson et al. 1971; and Olsen and Hansen 1977). However, perusal of the literature over the past three decades clearly indicates that much more is known about the food habits of big game animals on Colorado rangelands than is known about domestic animal food habits on the same lands. The purpose of this paper is to provide information about domestic sheep diets in relation to those of mule deer, domestic cattle (Bos taurus) and elk (Cervus canadensis) on big game winter ranges which may be critical to the successful overwintering of mule deer and elk. An objective was to estimate whether the recent past use of the study areas was resulting in excessive dietary overlaps. Study Area and Procedures The study area was located on the big game winter range of the Alamosa District, Rio Grande National Forest in the San Juan mountains of southcentral Colorado. The study area extends approximately 8 kilometers west of the forest boundary and the mean elevation is 2,833 m ranging from 2,589 m to 3,000 m. The vegetation pattern was uniform throughout the area and three basic plant communities could be distinguished. On the more xeric sites a mixture of shrub steppe and pinyon-juniper vegetation types were found. The major plant species of the shrub steppe were rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus), big sagebrush Authors are graduate research assistant and professor, respectively, Range Science Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523. We would like to thank J.E. Sazama for his help in organizing the study and T.M. Foppe who performed the analysis of fecal samples. This study was supported in part by the U.S. Forest Service Wildlife Internship Program. 242 (Artemisia tridentata), broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), fringed sagewort (Artemisia frigida), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), western wheatgrass (Agropyron smithii), bluegrass (Poa spp.), Arizona fescue (Festuca arizonica), carices (Carex spp.) and needleandthread grass (Stipa comata). The pinyon-juniper type contained pinyon pine (Pinus eduhs), juniper (Juniperus spp.), true mountainmahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), currant (Ribes spp.), fringed sagewort, blue grama, and carices. The major plant species found on mesic sites were ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), rose (Rosa spp.), currants, thurber fescue (Festuca thurberi), Arizona fescue, brome (Bromus spp.), prairie junegrass (Koeleria cristata), bluegrass, and carices. Plant names follow those recommended by Beetle (1970). Domestic sheep were released on the study areas in late spring and were herded to higher elevations as the snow melted. Domestic cattle use was heaviest in early summer and progressively decreased as the summer advanced and by late summer most of the cattle had moved to higher elevation ranges. Mule deer and elk typically arrived on the study area in late fall and early winter and remained until late March. In winters with more than average snowfall, they may remain until April or early May. The botanical composition of sheep, cattle, deer, and elk feces was determined by microhistological examination as described by Sparks and Malecheck (1968). Fecal samples were collected from two areas on the winter range during the summer after domestic stock had used the aeas. Each area was approximately one square kilometer in size and was located along the common border of a sheep and cattle allotment. Samples for each herbivore species were derived from 50 single defecations located at random throughout the area. Each subsample was about one cubic centimeter of fecal material. Five microscope slides were made from each sample and 20 fields were examined per microscope slide at 100X magnification. Diet similarity between species of herbivores was calculated using Kulcyznski’s similarity index (Oosting 1956). Results and Discussion The major components of the diet selected by sheep were grasses and sedges (Table 1). Western wheatgrass, blue grama, carices, and Table 1. (Mean &SD) percent relative density of plant fragments in fecal samples of four ungulates in southcentral Colorado from low elevation winter range of big-game. Plant species* Sheep Cattle Deer Elk Agropyron smithii 36 f 5 29 f 27 If 1 14fll Bouteloua gracilis 18f 2 5f 6 If 1 Carex spp. 15f7 4Of35 3f 1 17f 2 Koeleria cristata 9f3 9f 1 2f 2 8f 1 Festuca spp. If1 6f 2 2f 1 14f 17 Artemisia spp. 7f3 1 f 1 16f 2 23f 12 Cercocarpus montanus 12f 2 If 1 Juniperus spp. 10f 6 Pinus edulis 28 f 14 Psuedotsuga menziesii 13f 9 6f 3 *Other taxa in the diets were Aristida, Blepharoneuron, Muhlenbergia. Oryropsis, Pea. Sitanion. Stipa, Ceratoides, Berberis. Chrysothamnus, Descurainia, Eriogonum. Fragaria, Lupinus. Penstemon, Picea. Purshia, Ribes, Rosa, Sheperdia. Sphaeralcea, Symphoricarpos. Yucca and Potentilla in small (<50/o) amounts. JOURNAL OF RANGE MANAGEMENT 34(3), May 1981 Table 2. (Mean &SD) percent dietary overlap of four ungulates in southcentral Colorado when feeding on low elevation winter range of big

Diets of Domestic Sheep and Other Large Herbivores in Southcentral Colorado