Influence of canopy cover on behavioral traits of snowshoe hare

1. Influence of canopy cover on behavioral traits of snowshoe hare Breanna Avery Winter Ecology/ Spring 2018 Mountain Research Station, University of Colorado, Boulder Professor Tim Kittel

2. Introduction • The snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) • Mostly found in coniferous and boreal forests of the rocky mountains • Nocturnal animals that are active at dawn and dusk and spend the daylight hours grooming, napping, or avoiding predators. • Hind feet act as snowshoes to help float atop of snow

3. background • Previous Projects: “Snowshoe behavior in different environments” • (Paliwoda, 2016) • Literature Suggests: • Prefer dense understory in order to provide thermal and hiding cover. • Eat aspen trees and willow trees • Tend to be found where there is deep snow depth • (Ellsworth, 2006) • Research Question: Why do snowshoe hares behave particular ways based on the environment in which they are in?

4. behaviors When looking at tracks, in order to address why a snowshoe hare might act a particular way we might ask: • Are they more predated in a particular area? • Do they have a habitat that they feel most comfortable in? • Is there a type of tree they prefer to eat more during the winter months?

5. Different levels of canopy cover: Willow Aspen Willow & Aspen

6. Hypothesis Null Hypothesis: • There will be no difference in snowshoe hare behaviors due to a given environment. Alternative Hypothesis: • There will be a difference in behaviors due to a given environment. • Predictions: • Snowshoe hares will move quicker in more open areas and will move more leisurely in areas where there is a dense understory cover.

7. Methods • In each environment determined percentage of canopy cover in each particular area. • Laid out 20 meter transect tape. • Every 2 meters on the transect tape determined whether mammal was running, walking, or standing in place/eating. • At every 2 meters also analyzed surrounding trees for signs of foraging or tracks of predators. • Compared the different behaviors in all three of the locations

8. Methods • In order to determine snowshoe hare behavior • Walking • Less than 60cm apart from each footprint • If front feet were in front • Running • Greater than 60 cm distance apart • Back feet were in front of back feet • Standing in place • noticeable foraging from surround trees, scat, or left over food by tracks

9. statistics • One- way ANOVA to analyze the data • P-Value= 0.03 which shows there is statistical significance in snowshoe hare behavior and the amount of canopy cover. • Reject Null hypothesis

10. Results • In areas with both aspen and willow trees, there was the lowest average distance that the snowshoe hare traveled and noticeable bark eaten from a nearby Aspen tree. • This makes sense due to more understory (more than 30 percent cover), dense canopy cover, and more protection from predation. • The snowshoe hare traveled the quickest in areas with just one type of tree, Willow trees being the fastest and aspen forests being a close second. • In aspen forests especially, there is very minimal understory to provide protection (less than 30 percent cover). • Snowshoe hares are more often predated in areas where they are easy to get and where they are unable to hide in the understory of the trees.

11. Discussion • Questions? • Further research: • Finding predator tracks such as coyotes or bobcat and determine if they more often predate on snowshoe hares in open areas or closed.

12. References • Boonstra, R., Hik, D., Singleton, G. R. and Tinnikov, A. (1998), THE IMPACT OF PREDATOR-INDUCED STRESS ON THE SNOWSHOE HARE CYCLE. Ecological Monographs, 68: 371–394. doi:10.1890/0012-9615(1998)068[0371:TIOPIS]2.0.CO;2 • Ellsworth, E. and T.D. Reynolds. (2006, July 19). Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus): a technical conservation assessment. [Online]. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/snowshoehare.pdf [February 19, 2018].