Dissertation Research: Landscape Ecology of Snowshoe Hares

University Of Montana, Missoula MT

Investigators

Abstract

This study tests for effects of habitat heterogeneity in population dynamics of snowshoe hares, critical prey for many coniferous forest carnivores, including Canada lynx. Prevalent hypotheses appeal to habitat heterogeneity and resulting source-sink dynamics to explain the lack of hare population cycles in their southern range (the contiguous U.S.A.). Veterinary ultrasound and radio-telemetry will estimate birth, survival, immigration and emigration rates in different forest stand structure types. These estimates will test hypotheses of population dynamics in heterogeneous landscapes. Computer models will test for influences of landscape configuration on the relative importance of different vital rates. An experiment will test for changes in hare abundance resulting from pre-commercial thinning, a common silvicultural perturbation in forest habitats. This study will test theories that explain why certain animal populations do or do not cycle from high to low density, a central question in ecology. They will also inform federal, state, and private management of forested habitats where snowshoe hare population size, and Canada lynx population viability, are of concern and provide research training for undergraduate student-scientists.