Master of Science Candidate

Student Background

My name is Kory Gann and I am originally from San Antonio, Texas.  I graduated from Sealy High School in Sealy, Texas in 2005.  I was introduced to the outdoors at a very early age.  As a kid, a vast majority of my weekends and school vacations were spent in the brush country of South Texas.  This time was spent hunting, fishing, as well as looking for arrowheads and shed antlers.  During this time, I developed my love for wildlife and the outdoors.  These childhood experiences led me to my current career path in wildlife management.  After high school, I chose to go to Texas A&M University to pursue a degree in wildlife management. I graduated with my B.S. in Wildlife Ecology and Management in December 2008.  In January 2009, I was accepted into the graduate program at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, where I am currently pursuing my M.S.  in Range and Wildlife Science.  

Thesis Project

Effects of Population Density on White-tailed Deer Diet Quality

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.  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 foraged upon in each treatment will also be collected and analyzed.  These techniques will enable us to determine the quality and quantity of 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.  

Effects of Age, Sex and Density on Supplemental Feed Use by White-tailed Deer

I will also be looking at a different aspect of the study involving the use of supplemental feed by white-tailed deer.  I will be using Stable Isotope Sourcing Using Sampling (SISUS), a multiple source mixing model generated by the University of New Mexico.  This will allow me to determine the proportion of supplemental feed to natural vegetation in an individual deer’s diet as it relates to age, sex and density.