Utilization of Forage Kochia by Mule Deer and Pronghorn Antelope

Authors: Clements, Darin; JEFFRESS, MATT - Nevada Department Of Wildlife

Submitted to: Popular Publication
Publication Type: Popular Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/20/2026
Publication Date: 5/11/2026
Citation: Clements, D.D., Jeffress, M. 2026. Utilization of Forage Kochia by Mule Deer and Pronghorn Antelope. Popular Publication. 26(5)25-27.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: It is readily apparent that many habitats within the Great Basin have been converted from formerly big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)/bunchgrass communities to habitats dominated by exotic annual weeds such as cheatgrass. As wildfire frequencies have increased, the ability to restore native perennial species back into these habitats has been extremely challenging and unsuccessful, in which many resource managers have given up on these degraded rangelands. For decades, the political climate of using introduced species in restoration/rehabilitation efforts has ignited controversy. As these native plant communities have been replaced by invasive exotic weeds, the increased wildfire frequency associated with increased cheatgrass and associated fuels have continued to shrink native plant communities which native ungulates like mule deer and pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) rely on. Habitat quality is believed to have declined across much of the western United States because of successional changes in vegetation caused by increased wildfire frequencies, invasion of exotic and invasive weeds, particularly cheatgrass, human development and improper grazing management. Nutrition garnered during winter and summer influences most aspects of ungulate biology and the quality and quantity of forage during the summer were the best predictors of herd productivity in species such as mule deer and pronghorn antelope. Wildlife management agencies commonly use pellet-group counts to compare use of different habitats or to measure ungulate responses to habitat manipulation treatments. Mule deer in northeastern Nevada have experienced severe winter die-offs due to frequent and increased size of wildfires that have converted from former big sagebrush/bunchgrass communities to cheatgrass dominance resulting in significant declines in nutritional forage mule deer herds depend on to survive. In an effort to restore or rehabilitate these degraded habitats, numerous restoration/rehabilitation projects have taken place which include the seeding of perennial grasses, shrubs and forbs, as well as forage kochia to improve grazing resources as well as improve forage and cover for wildlife species. Wildlife biologists collected fecal samples in northeastern Nevada in 2021 and 2022 of mule deer and pronghorn antelope on numerous habitats that were intact as well as habitats that had previously experienced wildfire disturbances, and in some cases had been successfully seeded following wildfire events. Fecal samples were sent to the lab to identify the diet content of mule deer and pronghorn antelope in this region of Nevada. Although forage kochia plants made up less than 1% of the total assessed habitat that fecal collections occurred on, fecal analysis identified forage kochia in 33% of the mule deer diet and 30% of the pronghorn diet during the winter months. Forage kochia has long been reported to provide critical nutritional value to livestock and wildlife, especially on arid degraded rangelands where nutritional browse species are severely lacking. The use of forage kochia in habitats of the arid west may provide species such as mule deer and pronghorn antelope the nutritional value needed to not only survive winter but improve overall animal health resulting in less winter mortality and improved reproductive success to not only sustain the population but improve recruitment rates and population trends.