Phenotypic differences among cervid populations may be related to population-level genetics or nutrition; discerning which is difficult in the wild. This protocol describes how we designed a controlled study where nutritional variation was eliminated. We found that phenotypic variation of male white-tailed deer was more limited by nutrition than genetics.
Michel, E. S., Flinn, E. B., Demarais, S., Strickland, B. K., Wang, G., Dacus, C. M. Protocol for Assessing the Relative Effects of Environment and Genetics on Antler and Body Growth for a Long-lived Cervid. J. Vis. Exp. (126), e56059, doi:10.3791/56059 (2017).