All in a spring's work: UMBS General Ecology students publish white-tailed deer research
Spring/summer plans: practice guitar, hang out with friends, take field ecology classes at the U-M Biological Station (UMBS), publish research as an undergraduate.
Wait, what was that last one?!
Last spring, Alex Schipansky, Erica Gumkowski, Madeleine Klemz, and Sheldin Wilks took General Ecology at UMBS. As part of their academic work, they completed a research project on white-tailed deer diet, health, captivity, and lifespan. A year later, the group received the good news that their paper was accepted in the Journal of Animal Research and Nutrition.
“I remember the day we knew that our research could be published – actually I remember the minute,” says Schipansky, a U-M Flint student. “I was at dinner filling up a glass of apple juice, and Tim [UMBS Analytical Chemist] walked over and said, ‘Hey. Your samples are done. I looked at some of the stuff. Yeah, you guys definitely have something publishable.’ Needless to say, I almost dropped my juice. I fast-walked over to the group and started telling them all about it.”
Their paper, The Effects of Captivity on Diet and Lifespan in White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), explores potential dietary antecedents to the longer lifespan of captive deer versus their wild counterparts. By analyzing fecal samples from captive and wild animals, the group was able to determine that diet can differ greatly between these populations. The captive deer in the study consumed a regular diet of apples, carrots, straw, supplemental feed, and mineral blocks, while wild deer relied on intermittently available native vegetation. Through stable isotope and principal component analyses, the authors were able to measure the presence of carbon and nitrogen isotopes, markers for deer diet and health.
Ultimately, they found that fecal samples from the captive deer contained significantly more nitrogen (a hallmark of forage quality) and cholesterol, and less carbon than those of the wild deer. They were able to infer that white-tailed deer living in captivity consumed a higher quality diet than wild populations. The researchers acknowledge the possible effect of confounding variables on lifespan, including seasonal changes in wild deer diet, stress, and differential exposure to predators like coyotes and coywolves.
Schipansky cites UMBS as the catalyst for her interest in research. “My experience at the Station definitely helped me gain the confidence to do research,” she says. “Before the Station, I never imagined I would have the resources or ability to come anywhere close to publishing or even conducting research.”
When asked what else made her time at UMBS special, Schipansky had no shortage of material:
“Honestly, what WASN'T special about my time at the Station? The food was amazing and healthy, I don't think I've ever eaten more balanced and nutritionally in my life. Pizza Fridays and Ice Cream Wednesdays and Saturdays are the best. The classes are personal and make you feel as though you're not just sitting and droning on, but as though it really matters and it becomes your life for 4-8 weeks. The people there, both faculty and students, CLICK with you. You're all there to have a good time and enjoy nature, biology, everything. You may think those tin-walled cabins are shabby but oh my gosh, nothing will feel like home afterwards. Though, if you don't know how to start a fire...you learn QUICK. There are so many personal stories and little things that happen that honestly make it seem like a big rush of excitement and you never want to leave. That was long and wordy but, I could keep going.”
Schipansky and her fellow authors would like to thank General Ecology instructor Dr. Jasmine Crumsey-Forde, teaching assistants Corbin Kuntze and Oliva Brinks, Analytical Chemist Tim Veverica, Resident Biologist Adam Schubel, and Stockroom Manager Sherry Webster for their support and assistance.
Congratulations to the authors. For more information about General Ecology and all UMBS spring/summer courses, visit our website.
