Using Pellet Counts to Estimate Snowshoe Hare Numbers in Minnesota

2008 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 955-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas P. McCann ◽  
Ron A. Moen ◽  
Gerald J. Niemi
Keyword(s):  
Snowshoe Hare ◽  
Pellet Counts

scholarly journals Estimation of snowshoe hare population density from turd transects

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J. Krebs ◽  
B. Scott Gilbert ◽  
S. Boutin ◽  
R. Boonstra
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Fecal Pellet ◽  
Accurate Method ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
Lepus Americanus ◽  
Snowshoe Hare ◽  
Model Average ◽  
Pellet Counts ◽  
Hare Population ◽  
Kluane Lake

We counted the number of snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) fecal pellets on 50 quadrats of 0.155 m2 on each of six areas near Kluane Lake, Yukon Territory, once a year from 1977 to 1983. On four of these areas we livetrapped hares once a month and estimated population density from the Jolly–Seber model. Average hare density for the year was linearly related to fecal pellet counts (r = 0.94) over the range 0–10 hares/ha. Mean turd counts also are related to the variance of these counts by Taylor's power law with exponent 1.30, indicating a clumped pattern in turd deposition. Fecal pellet counts provide a quick and accurate method for snowshoe hare censuses on an extensive scale.

Effects of precommercial thinning on snowshoe hare habitat use during winter in low-elevation montane forests

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 206-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E Ausband ◽  
G Ross Baty
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Fecal Pellet ◽  
Lepus Americanus ◽  
Snowshoe Hare ◽  
Precommercial Thinning ◽  
Treatment Type ◽  
Northwestern Montana ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Pellet Counts ◽  
Mature Stands

We assessed snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus L.) habitat use during winter on two precommercial thinning treatments in sapling stands in northwestern Montana, USA. One treatment type retained 0.2-ha patches of unthinned saplings, representing 8% of the total stand area, and the second retained 0.8-ha patches of unthinned saplings, representing 35% of the stand area. Snowshoe hare habitat use was also estimated within a nearby control sapling stand and mature conifer stands. We used snow tracking and fecal pellet counts to estimate use before and after thinning treatments were applied. Although we did not find a conclusive trend in hare use of sapling stands after thinning, use within the control stand and adjacent mature stands suggested there was considerable movement of hares to nearby untreated stands after thinning. Hares used retention patches regardless of size, even though large retention patches were four times larger than small retention patches. Because hares demonstrated an affinity for dense patches of residual forest, any retention of untreated saplings may be beneficial for hares during winter when applying precommercial thinning treatments in areas where stand sizes are relatively small (10–14 ha), and the resulting thinned matrix is less harsh than in larger thinned stands. Use within thinned portions of the stand and unthinned remnant blocks suggests that over the winter hares may also benefit from a connectivity of dense cover.

Estimating low-density snowshoe hare populations using fecal pellet counts

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis L Murray ◽  
James D Roth ◽  
Ethan Ellsworth ◽  
Aaron J Wirsing ◽  
Todd D Steury
Keyword(s):  
Fecal Pellet ◽  
Nonlinear Models ◽  
Robust Estimator ◽  
Snowshoe Hare ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Intensive Study ◽  
Pellet Counts ◽  
Pellet Density ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Northern Idaho

Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) populations found at high densities can be estimated using fecal pellet densities on rectangular plots, but this method has yet to be evaluated for low-density populations. We further tested the use of fecal pellet plots for estimating hare populations by correlating pellet densities with estimated hare numbers on 12 intensive study areas in Idaho; pellet counts from extensive transects (n = 615) across northern Idaho enabled rectangular plots (0.155 m2) to be compared with paired small (0.155 m2) and large (1 m2) circular plots (metre-circle plots). Metre-circle plots had higher pellet prevalence, lower sample variance, and lower estimates of pellet density than the other plot types. Transects comprising circular plots required less establishment time, and observer training reduced the pellet-count bias attributable to plot shape. The number of hares occupying intensive study sites was correlated with pellet density on all plot types, but rectangular plots provided a slightly closer linear fit to hare numbers than did metre-circle plots. The relationship between pellet density and hare number may have been curvilinear rather than linear, but linear and nonlinear models provided similar numerical estimates over much of the range of pellet densities. These results indicate that pellet counts are a robust estimator of hare numbers in low-density populations, and that metre-circle plots represent an improvement over standard rectangular plots in terms of unbiased pellet counts, sacrificing little predictive power. We recommend using pellet counts in metre-circle plots for estimating populations of snowshoe hares in their southern distribution.

scholarly journals Estimating snowshoe hare population density from pellet plots: a further evaluation

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J Krebs ◽  
Rudy Boonstra ◽  
Vilis Nams ◽  
Mark O'Donoghue ◽  
Karen E Hodges ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Lepus Americanus ◽  
Snowshoe Hare ◽  
Fecal Pellets ◽  
Density Estimates ◽  
Snowshoe Hares ◽  
Pellet Counts ◽  
Hare Population

We counted fecal pellets of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) once a year in 10 areas in the southwestern Yukon from 1987 to 1996. Pellets in eighty 0.155-m2 quadrats were counted and cleared each June on all areas, and we correlated these counts with estimates of absolute hare density obtained by intensive mark–recapture methods in the same areas. There is a strong relationship between pellet counts and population density (r = 0.76), and we present a predictive log–log regression to quantify this relationship, which improves on our previously published 1987 regression, particularly at low hare densities. The precision of density estimates can be improved most easily by increasing the number of sets of quadrats in an area (one set = 80 plots), rather than increasing the number of plots counted within one set. The most important question remaining concerns the generality of this relationship for snowshoe hares living in other habitats in the eastern and southern portions of their geographic range.

SHOCK DISEASE AND THE SNOWSHOE HARE CYCLE

Science ◽  
1938 ◽  
Vol 87 (2257) ◽  
pp. 298-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Green ◽  
C. L. Larson
Keyword(s):  
Snowshoe Hare

Positive edge effects for arboreal marsupials: an assessment of potential mechanisms

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine K. Harding ◽  
Shirin Gomez
Keyword(s):  
Edge Effects ◽  
Brushtail Possum ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Positive Edge ◽  
Relative Index ◽  
Arboreal Marsupials ◽  
Pellet Counts ◽  
Wet Tropics ◽  
Foliage Density ◽  
Ringtail Possum

In this study we examined the potential for positive edge effects on folivorous arboreal marsupials inhabiting upland rainforest in the Wet Tropics region of far north Queensland, Australia. We predicted that the folivores should have increased densities at edges relative to interior forest 90 m from the edge owing to the following causal factors, either separately or in combination: (a) increased foliar biomass, measured as vertical foliage density; and/or (b) increased abundance of preferred food trees. To test these hypotheses, we conducted surveys of the lemuroid ringtail possum (Hemibelideus lemuroides), the green ringtail possum (Pseudochirops archeri), the Herbert River ringtail possum (Pseudochirulus herbertensis) and the coppery brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula johnstonii) at two remnant rainforest sites with ‘hard’ edges such as roads or pasture. Because arboreal species are often difficult to survey accurately within forests, we utilised pellet counts as an index of the population and compared this to the common survey technique of night spotlighting. Our results indicated that pellet counts, combined over all species, were positively and strongly correlated with spotlighting results. Using pellet counts as a relative index of arboreal folivore populations, we found that edge transects contained a higher abundance of all species combined than did interior transects. Further, total foliage density in the 10–30-m vertical transect was found to be significantly correlated with total pellet counts at edge transects. Total preferred tree species was not significantly different between edge and interior transects. From these results we propose that foliage density, as a surrogate for biomass, is a possible mechanism explaining the higher abundance of arboreal marsupials at the edges of these two highland rainforest sites in north Queensland.

scholarly journals Northern Goshawk, Accipiter gentilis, Exploits a Beagle Hound, Canis familiaris, as a "Beater" to Catch a Snowshoe Hare, Lepus americanus

2007 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 329
Author(s):  
John T. Neville
Keyword(s):  
Canis Familiaris ◽  
First Record ◽  
Lepus Americanus ◽  
Accipiter Gentilis ◽  
Snowshoe Hare ◽  
Northern Goshawk

During a winter Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus) hunt with a beagle hound (Canis familiaris), I observed an adult Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) exploiting the running, barking hound as a “beater” and use strategic locations for attacks. The hawk made three attacks on a hare being pursued by the hound, and subsequently caught and killed it. To my knowledge, this report represents the first record of a Northern Goshawk using this behavior to capture prey.

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