Stand-level Attributes of Snowshoe Hare (&lt;em&gt;Lepus americanus&lt;/em&gt;) Habitat in a Post-Fire Trembling Aspen (&lt;em&gt;Populus tremuloides&lt;/em&gt;) Chronosequence in Central Yukon

Strong, Wayne L; Jung, Thomas S.

doi:10.22621/cfn.v126i4.1375

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Similar to the findings of this study, hares have been reported to be associated with conifer‐dominated forests in Wyoming (Berg et al ), Wisconsin (Buehler and Keith ), Colorado (Dolbeer and Clark , Ivan et al ), Utah (Dolbeer and Clark ), Alaska (Feierabend and Kielland ), Washington (Lewis et al ), Maine (Litvaitis et al ), and Minnesota (Pietz and Tester ), USA, and the Yukon (Strong and Jung ) and Nova Scotia, Canada (Orr and Dodds ). In general, conifer stands offer dense canopy cover to help hares avoid avian predators.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Snowshoe hare multi‐level habitat use in a fire‐adapted ecosystem

Gigliotti

Jones²,

Lovallo³

et al. 2017

J Wildl Manag

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Prescribed burning has the potential to improve habitat for species that depend on pyric ecosystems or other early successional vegetation types. For species that occupy diverse plant communities over the extent of their range, response to disturbances such as fire might vary based on post-disturbance vegetation dynamics among plant communities. Although responses of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) to fire have been studied in conifer-dominated forests in northern parts of the species' range, there is a lack of information on snowshoe hare habitat use in fire-dependent communities in southern parts of their range. We used global positioning system (GPS) and very high frequency (VHF) radio-collars to monitor the habitat use of 32 snowshoe hares in a scrub-oak (Quercus ilicifolia)-pitch pine (Pinus rigida) barrens complex in northeastern Pennsylvania where prescribed fire has been used for habitat restoration. The area contained stands that underwent prescribed burning 1-6 years prior to our study. Also, we investigated fine-scale determinants of habitat use within stands. We found that regardless of season, hares did not select for areas that had been burned within 6 years prior. Hares primarily used stands of older scrub oak, conifer, or hardwoods, which contained dense understory vegetation and canopy cover. Hare habitat use also was positively associated with stand edges. Our results suggest that hares do not respond to prescribed burning of scrub oak in the short-term. In addition, by focusing on structural determinants of habitat use, rather than broad-scale characteristics such as stand type, management strategies for snowshoe hares can be adapted over the extent of their range despite the multitude of different land cover types across which the species occurs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Snowshoe hare multi‐level habitat use in a fire‐adapted ecosystem

Gigliotti

Jones²,

Lovallo³

et al. 2017

J Wildl Manag

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“…In mammals, recolonization is limited when key attributes of the habitat are eliminated ( Lindenmayer et al, 1999 ) and successful reoccupation relies on the recovery of vegetation cover ( Jennings et al, 2016 , Fox, Taylor & Thompson, 2003 ). For example, for the American hare, Lepus americanus , after a wildfire the response of populations has been associated with variations in undergrowth and canopy cover ( Mowat & Slough, 2003 ; Hodges, Mills & Murphy, 2009 ; Hodson, Fortin & Bélanger, 2011 ; Strong & Jung, 2012 ; Cheng, Hodges & Mills, 2015 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of the subalpine bunchgrasses to wildfires and its effects in the relative abundance of the volcano rabbit in the Ajusco-Chichinautzin Mountain Range

Uriostegui-Velarde,

González-Romero,

Rizo-Aguilar

et al. 2024

PeerJ

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The volcano rabbit (Romerolagus diazi) is a lagomorph endemic to the central mountains of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and is classified as threatened at extinction risk. It is a habitat specialist in bunchgrass communities. The annual wildfires that occur throughout its distribution range are a vulnerability factor for the species. However, the effects of wildfires on volcano rabbit populations are not fully understood. We evaluated the occupancy and change in the volcano rabbit relative abundance index in the burned bunchgrass communities of the Ajusco-Chichinautzin Mountain Range during an annual cycle of wildfire events. Additionally, we assessed the factors that favor and limit occupation and reoccupation by the volcano rabbit using the relative abundance index in burned plots as an indicator of these processes. The explanatory factors for the response of the volcano rabbit were its presence in the nearby unburned bunchgrasses, the height of three species of bunchgrass communities, the proportion of different types of vegetation cover within a 500 m radius around the burned plots, heterogeneity of the vegetation cover, and the extent of the wildfire. Statistical analyses indicated possible reoccupation in less than a year in burned bunchgrass communities adjacent to unburned bunchgrass communities with volcano rabbits. The relative abundance index of volcano rabbits was not favored when the maximum height of the Muhlenbergia macroura bunchgrass community was less than 0.77 m. When the vegetation around the burned plots was dominated by forest (cover >30% of the buffer) and the fire was extensive, the number of latrines decreased per month but increased when the bunchgrass and shrub cover was greater around the burned plots. While the statistical results are not conclusive, our findings indicate a direction for future projects, considering extensive monitoring to obtain a greater number of samples that contribute to consolidating the models presented.

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“…Among regenerating spruce stands the proportion of hare-browsed spruce was highest in intermediate-aged stands (30-60 years post burn) (Hodson et al, 2011;Olnes et al, 2019). An analysis of birch and aspen stands indicated highest hare densities were in stands approximately ≤ 20 years post burn (Strong & Jung, 2012). Similar research into lynx and hare densities along a fire chronosequence that did not differentiate between canopy species found highest track density in an intermediate aged burn ( 30 years post-fire) (Paragi et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Complex seasonal patterns of habitat use by a keystone mesopredator in boreal forest landscapes fragmented by fire.

Arnold,

Breed,

Laufenberg

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Wildfire is the most important disturbance regime in North American boreal forest communities, driving forest composition and structure across this region. Recent climate models predict that increasing fire intensity and frequency will result in a shift from a largely coniferous forest to one with a greater dominance by deciduous species. We investigated how an iconic predator of the boreal system, the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), moves through a range of burn scars (2-78 years old) and if these movements reflect habitat selection of their main prey, the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus). Using GPS collars at 4-h fix rates, we fitted integrated step selection models to lynx movements across an 80-year post-fire chronosequence to assess habitat selection in both deciduous and coniferous forests. We predicted that lynx would primarily select intermediately-aged spruce, but young deciduous stands, mirroring the habitat selection of snowshoe hares. We found, however, that lynx habitat selection peaked at intermediately aged stands in both forest types. We hypothesize that this difference is driven by selection for habitats that maximize capture probability as opposed to simply representing the highest hare density. This idea is supported by observed seasonal changes in peak selection in deciduous stands, with selection for younger stands in winter, when leaf loss reduces cover. There was no seasonal change in coniferous stands as they experience little change in cover across seasons. Together these results show that lynx can be resilient to short-term shifts toward intermediate-aged stands. However, these benefits will likely diminish in the longer term as the decrease in fire return interval may reduce the prevalence of intermediate-age stands.

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Stand-level Attributes of Snowshoe Hare (<em>Lepus americanus</em>) Habitat in a Post-Fire Trembling Aspen (<em>Populus tremuloides</em>) Chronosequence in Central Yukon

Cited by 10 publications

References 42 publications

Snowshoe hare multi‐level habitat use in a fire‐adapted ecosystem

Snowshoe hare multi‐level habitat use in a fire‐adapted ecosystem

Response of the subalpine bunchgrasses to wildfires and its effects in the relative abundance of the volcano rabbit in the Ajusco-Chichinautzin Mountain Range

Complex seasonal patterns of habitat use by a keystone mesopredator in boreal forest landscapes fragmented by fire.

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