Browsing by Author "Hundley, Louis Reams"

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    The available nutrients in selected deer browse species growing on different soils
    Hundley, Louis Reams (Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1956)
    The purposes of this investigation which was conducted from September 1954 through October 1955, were (1) to determine the differences in available nutrients in selected deer browse species growing on different soils, (2) to investigate the variations in available soil nutrients as they may relate to chemical composition of selected deer browse species, and (3) to determine the variations in available nutrients in the selected browse species during different seasons of the year. The current year’s growth of twigs from flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), black locust (Robina pseudoacacia), and red maple (Acer rubrum) were collected at two-month intervals on study areas whose soils had arisen from either Brallier, Clinton, Huntersville chert, or Martinsburg shale geological formations. A proximate analysis was run on each browse collection. In addition to the above three species, rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) and buffalo nut (Pyrularia pubera) were collected from the Brallier study area and analyzed. One-third of the samples of dogwood, locust, and maple that were collected after leaf fall in October 1955, were analyzed for calcium, phosphorus, cobalt, and manganese. Soil samples were collected on each area and analyzed by a flame spectrophotometer, LeMotte Soil Testing Outfit, and a rapid method. The soil which arose from the Brallier study area was lowest in value for phosphorous and second highest in values for total exchangeable cations and organic matter. The Clinton study area values were second highest in pH, phosphorous, and base saturation, and was highest in organic matter and manganese content. The chert values were the next lowest for phosphorus and lowest for pH, calcium, total exchangeable cations, and base saturation. The shale study area soil gave the highest values for pH, calcium, phosphorous, base saturation, and total exchangeable cations although it was lowest in organic matter. Of the three browse species collected from all the study areas, dogwood was generally high in moisture content, ether extract, ash, and nitrogen-free extract while being average in protein and low in crude fiber. Locust was high in protein and crude fiber and low in moisture, ether extract, and nitrogen-free extract. Maple was generally high in ether extract, crude fiber, and nitrogen-free extract and low in protein and ash. Rhododendron and buffalo nut were collected from the Brallier study area only. In comparison with the other three species on that area, rhododendron was very high in moisture and nitrogen-free extract; average to low in protein, ether extract, and crude fiber; average to high in ash. Buffalo nut was very high in moisture, protein, and ash; average in ether extract and crude fiber; and low in nitrogen-free extract. Seasonal trends in nutrient values for three browse species collected in all areas were observed. Protein content rose generally during the dormant months. Moisture content decreased from June through December and was followed by a rise that lasted until June. There was a rise in ether extract from September through June whereas the level of ash content was erratic during this period. Crude fiber was fairly stable in red maple and black locust although erratic in dogwood. There was a decrease in the nitrogen-free extract during the winter. Trends and consistencies in the nutritive values of the three species collected on all study areas, based on the study area on which they occur, are generally in the order of being high or low for one or two individual species rather than for all the species, or else they are considerably erratic. The different species have different nutritive values when growing on the same soil. During April and August, the different soils have their greatest effect on the nutritive values of plants; moisture content is greatly affected by the soil, and protein content is only slightly less affected. Except for the months of February and August, at least three of the six nutritive qualities of the plants were affected by the interaction between the plant and the soil. Analyses for minor elements reveal that black locust had the highest phosphorous and cobalt content; dogwood had the highest calcium content; red maple had the highest manganese content. On three of the four study areas, the manganese content of red maple exceeded the toxic level for bovines. On the chert area, dogwood and red maple were deficient, by bovine standards, in cobalt.
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    The estimation of populations of some farm game species
    Hundley, Louis Reams (Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1953)
    This investigation was concerned primarily with the estimation of fish, rabbit, and squirrel populations on various areas on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute College Farms at Blacksburg, Virginia. Particular attention was given to the capture-recapture method and other related methods of population estimation, and the evaluation, wherever feasible, of these methods by determining as accurately as possible the animal populations as determined by intensive trapping and pond drainage. 2. A total of 1,181 fish were marked during a period of 12 days. Fifty-nine rabbits and 200 squirrels were marked during a period of approximately 7,890 trap-nights. 3. Both the Krumholz method and the Schumacher and Eschmeyer method give a reasonably accurate and certainly usable estimate of fish pond populations. 4. The Krumholz method, as used in this study for a comparison with the Lincoln Index estimates of mammal populations, is not suited for use in calculating estimates when the number of captures and recaptures has been low for an area. 5. The number of animals seen per hour per acre varies greatly with the habitat, season, and the time of day; however, this technique could be a useful index to abundance when such records have been kept for a considerable period of time for the same area. 6. The efficiency and accuracy of population estimates based on short precensus and census periods are not constant because the number of individual captured and recaptured varies too greatly with the species and its environment. Table 11 is a summary of the population estimates of squirrels and rabbits on the three wooded study areas. [see document for table] 7. The Lincoln Index method of population estimation, when applied to data obtained through four or more months of continuous squirrel trapping yielded an estimate that varied from 1.31 to 1.72 times the number of animals tagged on the area. The average variation was 1.537 with a standard deviation of 0.278. The Lincoln Index estimates of the rabbit populations varied from 1.78 to 1.96 times the number of animals tagged on the area. The average variation was 1.868 with a standard deviation of 0.0925. When this method of censusing is used, the variation should be kept in mind, and any population figure based on the Lincoln Index should also contain a statement as to whether or not the figure was adjusted. 8. The use of kill data from a squirrel harvest substituted for a census period of trapping yielded an estimate that was probably more inaccurate than that obtained by any other method. However, it is entirely possible that an insufficient number of animals had been marked prior to the harvest in order to obtain an acceptable estimate by this method. 9. The ratio of marked squirrels per leaf nest was fairly constant. If the four marked squirrels that were removed by hunting on Study Area III were not included in the total number of tagged animals on that area, the marked squirrel:leaf nest ratio would be 13:1 on Study Areas II and III and 13.1:1 on Study Area IV. The leaf nest counts were made in mid-April, after the nest had been subjected to the snow, sleet, and wind of winter. However, a leaf nest count made in mid-December on one study area gave the same number as the later count. The only disadvantage to using this method is that it should be used at a tie of year when there are no leaves on the trees in order to insure a complete count.