Exploitative Competition between Mountain Hare and Moose—Qualitative Effects on Hare Winter Forage?

Pedersen, Simen; Pedersen, Hans Chr.

doi:10.3390/ani11092638

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…Although several other birds and mammals may eat birch in the subarctic winter (i.e. ptarmigan Lagopus muta , Pedersen and Karlsen 2007; black grouse Lyrurus tetrix , Pedersen 1991; moose Alces alces , Pedersen and Pedersen 2021; and mountain hares Lepus timidus , Pedersen and Pedersen 2021), none use this abundant resource as extensively as willow grouse. In his classic book on Norwegian Lagopus grouse, Steen (1989) writes that winter‐feeding willow grouse walk between birch bushes and clip twigs here and there without eating them completely, and he regrets that we do not have analyses of what they take and what they reject.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Twig selection on mountain birch Betula pubescens by winter‐feeding willow grouse Lagopus lagopus in a subarctic forest

Klemetsen

Smalås

2023

Wildlife Biology

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In a subarctic forest at Kvaløya, northern Norway, willow grouse Lagopus lagopus fed at snow level by clipping bits of twigs from mountain birch Betula pubescens during winter. Birch has two types of twigs ending in a terminal bud: long twigs with a smooth bark, and short twigs with rings of thicker bark. The grouse selected ringed twigs above smooth twigs despite a surplus of smooth twigs in the forest. Ringed twigs had more bark cm−1 of twig length and a higher relative bark/wood ratio than smooth twigs. Smooth twigs had growth nodes that increased in diameter inwards from the tip. Because of the non‐linear relation between the area and the circumference of a circle, the bark/wood ratio decreased for each node. Although being able to clip much thicker twigs, 90% of smooth twigs clipped by grouse were ≤ 2 mm in diameter. It is concluded that willow grouse fed optimally on birch in winter by selecting twigs to minimize fibrous wood intake.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Twig selection on mountain birch Betula pubescens by winter‐feeding willow grouse Lagopus lagopus in a subarctic forest

Klemetsen

Smalås

2023

Wildlife Biology

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“…They are native to Norway and are found throughout the country, with their distribution ranging from sea level to around 1,600 m, which is above the tree line. Population size within Scandinavia is thought to be decreasing (Pedersen and Pedersen. 2012, Elmhagen et al 2015, Pedersen et al 2017 resulting in the species being classified as "near threatened" in the 2015 Norwegian Red List (Henriksen and Hilmo.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altitude, latitude, and climate zone as determinants of mountain hare (Lepus timidus) coat colour change

Stokes

Hofmeester²,

Thorsen

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Local adaptation to annually changing environments has evolved in numerous species. Seasonal coat colour change is an adaptation that has evolved in multiple mammal and bird species occupying areas that experience seasonal snow cover. It has a critical impact on fitness as predation risk may increase when an individual is mismatched against its habitat’s background colour. In this paper we investigate the impact of landscape covariates on moult timing in a native winter-adapted herbivore, the mountain hare (Lepus timidus), throughout Norway. Data was collected between 2011 and 2019 at 678 camera trap locations deployed across an environmental gradient. Based on this data, we created a Bayesian multinomial logistic regression model that quantified the correlations between landscape covariates and coat colour phenology and analysed among season and year moult timing variation. Our results demonstrate that mountain hare moult timing is strongly correlated with altitude and latitude with hares that live at higher latitudes and altitudes keeping their winter white coats for longer than their conspecifics that inhabit lower latitudes and altitudes. Moult timing was also weakly correlated with climate zone with hares that live in coastal climates keeping their winter white coats for longer than hares that live in continental climates. We found evidence of some among year moult timing variation in spring, but not in autumn. We conclude that mountain hare moult timing has adapted to local environmental conditions throughout Norway.

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Seasonal Change in Activity Rhythms and Time Budgets of Tibetan Macaques

Zhou

Wang

et al. 2022

Biology

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Activity rhythms and time budgets are important to understand behavioral variability and adaptation in primates because animals normally use a behavioral adjustment as a preferential choice in response to environmental changes. Therefore, we observed a group of un-provisioned Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) in Tianhu Mountain County Nature Reserve, Mount Huangshan, Southern Anhui, China. We used the instantaneous scan sampling method to collect behavioral data on their activity rhythms and time budget. The results showed that Tibetan macaques have two foraging peaks (9:00–10:00 and 14:00–15:00) and a resting peak at 12:00–13:00. They spent 31.96% resting, 28.59% foraging, 26.96% moving, 6.90% grooming, and 5.59% other. The total time of foraging and moving per month significantly and positively correlated with fruits and buds and negatively correlated with leaves. Different sexes and age groups demonstrated different activity time budgets, with adult males, adult females, and young macaques spending most of their time resting, grooming, and playing, respectively. We elucidated the effects of different environmental conditions on Tibetan macaques and their behavioral adaptation strategies.

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Exploitative Competition between Mountain Hare and Moose—Qualitative Effects on Hare Winter Forage?

Cited by 3 publications

References 23 publications

Twig selection on mountain birch Betula pubescens by winter‐feeding willow grouse Lagopus lagopus in a subarctic forest

Twig selection on mountain birch Betula pubescens by winter‐feeding willow grouse Lagopus lagopus in a subarctic forest

Altitude, latitude, and climate zone as determinants of mountain hare (Lepus timidus) coat colour change

Seasonal Change in Activity Rhythms and Time Budgets of Tibetan Macaques

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