Master of Science Candidate

Student Background

My name is Justin Folks and I am from Staunton, Virginia.  My passion for the outdoors and wildlife developed at a very early age while taking family hunting and fishing trips in the Shenandoah Valley and the Appalachian Mountains.  I received a B.S. from Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia in 2007, while double-majoring in Biology and Environmental Science.  After a couple of jobs unrelated to wildlife, I worked as the Chronic Wasting Disease Technician for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries at the Region IV office in Verona.  I was fortunate enough to join the Comanche-Faith Deer Study team at the CKWRI in June 2009, and I am currently working towards a Master’s Degree in Range and Wildlife Management under the guidance of Dr. David Hewitt.

Theses Projects

Effects of Population Density on White-tailed Deer Diet Quality
(in cooperation with Kory Gann, master of science candidate)

Population density may affect the nutritional quality of the vegetation consumed by white-tailed deer.  Intense browsing of plants may induce a pruning effect that leads to rapid plant re-growth. This re-growth may result in highly palatable and nutritious plant tissue and an increase in diet quality.  Research has suggests that increasing urine and fecal deposits lead to increasing rates of nutrient cycling and produce a positive nutrient-feedback loop.  Alternatively, high browse pressure may reduce abundance of high quality forage, forcing deer to eat poorer quality forages and causing a decline in diet quality.  Bite counts will be done using tame does in both low- and high-density treatments.  Samples of plant species eaten in each treatment will also be collected and analyzed.  These techniques will enable us to determine the quality and quantity of the plants foraged upon.  We will then compare quality and composition of deer diets under the 2 treatments in order to assess the effects of population density on diet quality.

Evaluating Stress Levels of White-tailed Deer as a Factor of Population Density

During times of stress, animals produce hormones called glucocorticoids that allow them to rapidly produce energy required for the “fight or flight” response.  The energy produced in this process is energy that is unavailable for other important physiological processes such as body growth and reproduction.  Chronic stress and sustained elevated levels of glucocorticoids can also lead to neuronal cell death, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, muscle and bone atrophy, poor wound healing, and decreased immune response.  After glucocorticoids are produced in the body, they are excreted in the urine and feces, offering a non-invasive method for determining relative stress levels of individuals.  It has been documented that glucocorticoid levels in excreta correlate to the amount of stress perceived by an animal.  I will be analyzing glucocorticoid levels in feces from white-tailed deer in our low- and high-density enclosures at the Comanche and Faith ranches in order to determine the effects of population density on stress response.