A natural feeding experiment on a declining snowshoe hare population

OecologiaPublished 1 September 1986

Charles J. Krebs, Stan Boutin, Benjamin Gilbert

DOI10.1007/bf00379239

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Citations33

SJR quartileQ1

SJR score0.97

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TL;DR

It is concluded that food shortage is not necessary for the cyclic decline of snowshoe hares in the southern Yukon.

Abstract

A snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) population on a 9-ha area was supplied with extra natural food by chopping down large white spruce (Picea glauca) and aspen (Populus tremuloides) trees throughout 3 winters from 1981 to 1984. Hares fed vigorously on the downed trees, but the phase of decline of the ten-year cycle occurred equally on control and experimental grids from 1981-1983, and we could detect no improvement in survival or reproduction on the food area. Growth rates were improved on the food grid during the first winter of the decline (1981-82). We concluded that food shortage is not necessary for the cyclic decline of snowshoe hares in the southern Yukon.

Keywords

Environmental Science

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