Population fluctuations in mountain hares: A role for parasites

• Main Author: Scott-john Newey
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fennoscandia; Lepus timidus; mountain hare
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.214.3325; http://diss-epsilon.slu.se:8080/archive/00000808/01/SummaryThesis_sueciae_2005-26-revised.pdf

Throughout their circumpolar distribution mountain hares Lepus timidus show unstable population dynamics characterised by regular and sometimes dramatic changes in abundance. The periodicity, amplitude and degree of cyclicity are different in different regions. The reasons for these fluctuations and geographic differences are not fully understood. In Fennoscandia there is experimental and correlative evidence that some mountain hare populations are limited by predators, but the experiments needed to conclusively demonstrate the role of predators, or of other potential factors have not been undertaken. In Scotland the rigorous control of predators means that the role of predators is largely dismissed, but this has not been experimentally tested. The most promising line of enquiry suggests that intestinal parasites have the potential to destabilise some mountain hare populations. There is paucity of literature from Asia and central Europe and no firm conclusions could be drawn. Time-series analysis of hunting bag records from Scotland largely confirmed the dominance of weak cycles with a mean periodicity of around 9 years found in earlier