Inferences on competitive interactions between white-tailed deer Odocoileus uirgi- nianus (Zimmermann, 1780) and cattle were made using information on diet composition and quality. We hypothesized that dietary overlap between deer and cattle would increase with cattle density and that quality of deer diets would be higher in areas not exposed to cattle than in areas that were stocked with moderate to high cattle densities. Three treatments were delineated in McCurtain County, Oklahoma (heavy cattle stocking), and Howard (moderate to light cattle stocking) and Pike (no cattle stocking) counties, Arkansas. Treatments were similar with respect to soils and vegetation but differed with respect to cattle stocking rate (ie number of cattle/ha). Deer and cattle diets and concentrations of fecal nitrogen (FN) {an index to dietary quality) were determined from feces that were obtained from .12 randomly selected collection areas (4/treatment) from October 1986 to October 1988. Dietary overlap of deer and cattle was highest in winter and lowest in summer. Dietary overlap of deer populations was lowest for populations exposed to heavy cattle stocking and no cattle stocking, which suggested that competition between the deer and cattle occurred in winter. Fecal nitrogen was iowest in deer feces collected from treatments with cattle stocking in February but higher in August and October. Both dietary quality and dietary overlap suggested possible competitive interactions between deer and cattle in winter. However, higher dietary forb and dietary quality for deer in summer exposed to cattle suggested that cattle can facilitate growth of early successional plant species in pine habitats.
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