Population Ecology of Coyotes during a Fluctuation of Snowshoe Hares

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Functional and numerical responses of coyotes (C. latrans) to a cyclic fluctuation of snowshoe hares (L. americanus) were studied in a mixed farming-boreal forest ecosystem. Winter coyote densities on the 180-km2 study area near Rochester, Alberta [Canada], were directly related to hare abundance. The amplitude of the coyote fluctuation was 3- to 6-fold (vs. 20- to 40-fold for the hare). Percent biomass of hares in the coyotes'' winter diet varied from 0-77; 94% of the variation was attributable to changes in hare density. Large mammals, chiefly livestock carrion, were the most important alternate foods during periods of hare scarcity. Coyote association with open areas (nonhabitat for snowshoe hares), and their proximity to settlement, were inversely related to hare abundance over the course of the cycle. During 3 yr of hare population decline, breeding by yearling female coyotes declined > 50%; mean litter size declined > 25% among adult females. Litter size among yearlings was probably unaffected by hare population trends.

This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit: