Hare's affairs: Lessons learnt from a noninvasive genetic monitoring for tracking mountain hare individuals
Abstract Systematic monitoring of individuals and their abundance over time has become an important tool to provide information for conservation. For genetic monitoring studies, noninvasive sampling has emerged as a valuable approach, particularly so for elusive or rare animals. Here, we present the...
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crwiley:10.1002/ece3.6676 2024-10-06T13:50:28+00:00 Hare's affairs: Lessons learnt from a noninvasive genetic monitoring for tracking mountain hare individuals Schenker, Laura Bollmann, Kurt Rehnus, Maik Brodbeck, Sabine Gugerli, Felix 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6676 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.6676 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.6676 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecology and Evolution volume 10, issue 18, page 10150-10166 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 journal-article 2020 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6676 2024-09-19T04:19:54Z Abstract Systematic monitoring of individuals and their abundance over time has become an important tool to provide information for conservation. For genetic monitoring studies, noninvasive sampling has emerged as a valuable approach, particularly so for elusive or rare animals. Here, we present the 5‐year results of an ongoing noninvasive genetic monitoring of mountain hares ( Lepus timidus ) in a protected area in the Swiss Alps. We used nuclear microsatellites and a sex marker to identify individuals and assign species to noninvasively collected feces samples. Through including a marker for sex identification, we were able to assess sex ratio changes and sex‐specific demographic parameters over time. Male abundance in the area showed high fluctuations and apparent survival for males was lower than for females. Generally, males and females showed only little temporary migration into and out of the study area. Additionally, using genotyped tissue samples from mountain hares, European hares ( Lepus europaeus ) and their hybrids, we were able to provide evidence for the first occurrence of a European hare in the study area at an elevation of 2,300 m a.s.l. in spring 2016. For future monitoring studies, we suggest to include complementary analysis methods to reliably infer species identities of the individuals analyzed and, thus, not only monitor mountain hare individual abundance, but also assess the potential threats given through competitive exclusion by and hybridization with the European hare. Article in Journal/Newspaper Lepus timidus mountain hare Wiley Online Library Ecology and Evolution 10 18 10150 10166 |
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English |
description |
Abstract Systematic monitoring of individuals and their abundance over time has become an important tool to provide information for conservation. For genetic monitoring studies, noninvasive sampling has emerged as a valuable approach, particularly so for elusive or rare animals. Here, we present the 5‐year results of an ongoing noninvasive genetic monitoring of mountain hares ( Lepus timidus ) in a protected area in the Swiss Alps. We used nuclear microsatellites and a sex marker to identify individuals and assign species to noninvasively collected feces samples. Through including a marker for sex identification, we were able to assess sex ratio changes and sex‐specific demographic parameters over time. Male abundance in the area showed high fluctuations and apparent survival for males was lower than for females. Generally, males and females showed only little temporary migration into and out of the study area. Additionally, using genotyped tissue samples from mountain hares, European hares ( Lepus europaeus ) and their hybrids, we were able to provide evidence for the first occurrence of a European hare in the study area at an elevation of 2,300 m a.s.l. in spring 2016. For future monitoring studies, we suggest to include complementary analysis methods to reliably infer species identities of the individuals analyzed and, thus, not only monitor mountain hare individual abundance, but also assess the potential threats given through competitive exclusion by and hybridization with the European hare. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schenker, Laura Bollmann, Kurt Rehnus, Maik Brodbeck, Sabine Gugerli, Felix |
spellingShingle |
Schenker, Laura Bollmann, Kurt Rehnus, Maik Brodbeck, Sabine Gugerli, Felix Hare's affairs: Lessons learnt from a noninvasive genetic monitoring for tracking mountain hare individuals |
author_facet |
Schenker, Laura Bollmann, Kurt Rehnus, Maik Brodbeck, Sabine Gugerli, Felix |
author_sort |
Schenker, Laura |
title |
Hare's affairs: Lessons learnt from a noninvasive genetic monitoring for tracking mountain hare individuals |
title_short |
Hare's affairs: Lessons learnt from a noninvasive genetic monitoring for tracking mountain hare individuals |
title_full |
Hare's affairs: Lessons learnt from a noninvasive genetic monitoring for tracking mountain hare individuals |
title_fullStr |
Hare's affairs: Lessons learnt from a noninvasive genetic monitoring for tracking mountain hare individuals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hare's affairs: Lessons learnt from a noninvasive genetic monitoring for tracking mountain hare individuals |
title_sort |
hare's affairs: lessons learnt from a noninvasive genetic monitoring for tracking mountain hare individuals |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6676 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.6676 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.6676 |
genre |
Lepus timidus mountain hare |
genre_facet |
Lepus timidus mountain hare |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution volume 10, issue 18, page 10150-10166 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6676 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
18 |
container_start_page |
10150 |
op_container_end_page |
10166 |
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1812178601221554176 |