Highest densities of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) associated with ecologically restored bog but not grouse moorland management
Over the last 20 years, ecological restoration of degraded habitats has become common in conservation practice. Mountain hares (Lepus timidus scoticus) were surveyed during 2017–2021 using 830 km of line transects in the Peak District National Park, England. Historically degraded bog areas were prev...
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8968167/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35386872 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8744 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:8968167 2023-05-15T17:07:48+02:00 Highest densities of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) associated with ecologically restored bog but not grouse moorland management Bedson, Carlos P. E. Wheeler, Philip M. Reid, Neil Harris, Wilson Edwin Mallon, David Caporn, Simon Preziosi, Richard 2022-03-31 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8968167/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35386872 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8744 en eng John Wiley and Sons Inc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8968167/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35386872 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8744 © 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. CC-BY Ecol Evol Research Articles Text 2022 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8744 2022-04-10T00:31:35Z Over the last 20 years, ecological restoration of degraded habitats has become common in conservation practice. Mountain hares (Lepus timidus scoticus) were surveyed during 2017–2021 using 830 km of line transects in the Peak District National Park, England. Historically degraded bog areas were previously reported having low hare numbers. Following bog restoration, we found hare densities of 32.6 individuals km(−2), notably higher than neighboring degraded (unrestored) bog with 24.4 hares km(−2). Hare density on restored peatland was 2.7 times higher than on bogs managed for grouse shooting at 12.2 hares km(−2) and 3.3 times higher than on heather moorland managed for grouse shooting at 10.0 hares km(−2). Yearly estimates varied most on habitats managed for grouse, perhaps indicative of the impact of habitat management, for example, heather burning and/or possible hare culling to control potential tick‐borne louping ill virus in gamebirds. Acid grassland used for sheep farming had a similar density to grouse moorland at 11.8 hares km(−2). Unmanaged dwarf shrub heath had the lowest density at 4.8 hares km(−2). Hare populations are characterized by significant yearly fluctuations, those in the study area increasing by 60% between 2017 and 2018 before declining by ca. 15% by 2020 and remaining stable to 2021. During an earlier survey in 2002, total abundance throughout the Peak District National Park was estimated at 3361 (95% CI: 2431–4612) hares. The present study estimated 3562 (2291–5624) hares suggesting a stable population over the last two decades despite fluctuations likely influenced by weather and anthropogenic factors. Mountain hares in the Peak District favored bog habitats and were associated with restored peatland habitat. Wildlife management should be cognizant of hare density variation between habitats, which may have implications for local extinction risk. Text Lepus timidus PubMed Central (PMC) Ecology and Evolution 12 4 |
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Research Articles Bedson, Carlos P. E. Wheeler, Philip M. Reid, Neil Harris, Wilson Edwin Mallon, David Caporn, Simon Preziosi, Richard Highest densities of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) associated with ecologically restored bog but not grouse moorland management |
topic_facet |
Research Articles |
description |
Over the last 20 years, ecological restoration of degraded habitats has become common in conservation practice. Mountain hares (Lepus timidus scoticus) were surveyed during 2017–2021 using 830 km of line transects in the Peak District National Park, England. Historically degraded bog areas were previously reported having low hare numbers. Following bog restoration, we found hare densities of 32.6 individuals km(−2), notably higher than neighboring degraded (unrestored) bog with 24.4 hares km(−2). Hare density on restored peatland was 2.7 times higher than on bogs managed for grouse shooting at 12.2 hares km(−2) and 3.3 times higher than on heather moorland managed for grouse shooting at 10.0 hares km(−2). Yearly estimates varied most on habitats managed for grouse, perhaps indicative of the impact of habitat management, for example, heather burning and/or possible hare culling to control potential tick‐borne louping ill virus in gamebirds. Acid grassland used for sheep farming had a similar density to grouse moorland at 11.8 hares km(−2). Unmanaged dwarf shrub heath had the lowest density at 4.8 hares km(−2). Hare populations are characterized by significant yearly fluctuations, those in the study area increasing by 60% between 2017 and 2018 before declining by ca. 15% by 2020 and remaining stable to 2021. During an earlier survey in 2002, total abundance throughout the Peak District National Park was estimated at 3361 (95% CI: 2431–4612) hares. The present study estimated 3562 (2291–5624) hares suggesting a stable population over the last two decades despite fluctuations likely influenced by weather and anthropogenic factors. Mountain hares in the Peak District favored bog habitats and were associated with restored peatland habitat. Wildlife management should be cognizant of hare density variation between habitats, which may have implications for local extinction risk. |
format |
Text |
author |
Bedson, Carlos P. E. Wheeler, Philip M. Reid, Neil Harris, Wilson Edwin Mallon, David Caporn, Simon Preziosi, Richard |
author_facet |
Bedson, Carlos P. E. Wheeler, Philip M. Reid, Neil Harris, Wilson Edwin Mallon, David Caporn, Simon Preziosi, Richard |
author_sort |
Bedson, Carlos P. E. |
title |
Highest densities of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) associated with ecologically restored bog but not grouse moorland management |
title_short |
Highest densities of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) associated with ecologically restored bog but not grouse moorland management |
title_full |
Highest densities of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) associated with ecologically restored bog but not grouse moorland management |
title_fullStr |
Highest densities of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) associated with ecologically restored bog but not grouse moorland management |
title_full_unstemmed |
Highest densities of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) associated with ecologically restored bog but not grouse moorland management |
title_sort |
highest densities of mountain hares (lepus timidus) associated with ecologically restored bog but not grouse moorland management |
publisher |
John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8968167/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35386872 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8744 |
genre |
Lepus timidus |
genre_facet |
Lepus timidus |
op_source |
Ecol Evol |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8968167/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35386872 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8744 |
op_rights |
© 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8744 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
4 |
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1766063304778711040 |