Differential sex-related winter energetics in free-ranging snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus)

Abstract

Animals spend considerable time and energy acquiring food to meet their metabolic requirements, but if energetic or fitness costs are substantive, such as during winter, then some individuals may limit daily energy expenditure by reducing foraging duration. To date, the prevalence and magnitude of such compensatory foraging responses are poorly known. We examined energy balance compensation in free-ranging snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus Erxleben, 1777) via a food supplementation experiment to determine whether individuals reduced their daily energy expenditure (DEE) and activity periods in response to increased food availability. Overall, food supplementation had no effect on diel activity patterns, although males had higher DEE compared with females. During early and mid-winter, hares did not alter their activity periods in response to food supplementation, but during late winter, when natural food availability declined, food-supplemented females (but not males) were ∼11% less active compared with controls. Natural food likely was sufficient and could have been acquired at relatively low energetic cost, but because males likely have higher DEE due to mating behavior whereas females may limit their activity (and thus DEE) to reduce predation risk, we conclude that gender-specific life-history demands can over-ride predicted responses to supplemental food when baseline food abundance is adequate.

Impact of wildfire size on snowshoe hare relative abundance in southern British Columbia, Canada

“…In forests where more species regrow soon after fire, or where lodgepole pine is scarce, sapling density is likely to remain a strong predictor of hare density given that young trees provide both food and cover for hares, especially in large burns where hares no longer have easy access to mature forest cover. Lodgepole pine is a favorite food of snowshoe hares due to its nutritional value (Hodges 2000a(Hodges , 2000bEllsworth et al 2013;Ellsworth et al 2016), and we found that foraging snowshoe hares in the large Okanagan Mountain Park fire preferentially selected dense thickets of saplings in winter and foraged primarily on lodgepole pine (Hutchen and Hodges 2019).…”

The secret life of wild animals revealed by accelerometer data: How landscape diversity and seasonality influence the behavioural types of European hares

“…Concurrently, during winter, areas of low habitat diversity in agricultural landscapes are characterized by vast open areas with low vegetation cover. Hares in areas with low habitat diversity might be unable to move as much as necessary to meet their daily requirements, since limiting activity is crucial for minimizing predation risk (Ellsworth et al 2016). Additionally, the absence of tall vegetation may lead to challenges in finding thermal shelter (Laiolo 2005;Meichtry-Stier et al 2018).…”