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Extensive forests and persistent snow cover promote snowshoe hare occupancy in Wisconsin
Author(s) -
Sultaire Sean M.,
Pauli Jonathan N.,
Martin Karl J.,
Meyer Michael W.,
Zuckerberg Benjamin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the journal of wildlife management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1937-2817
pISSN - 0022-541X
DOI - 10.1002/jwmg.21083
Subject(s) - occupancy , snowshoe hare , range (aeronautics) , ecology , geography , species distribution , environmental science , physical geography , climate change , snow , vegetation (pathology) , habitat , biology , meteorology , medicine , materials science , pathology , composite material
Range boundaries are a manifestation of species' tolerances to environmental factors, including climate and human disturbance. As such, studying populations persisting along range boundaries can provide important insights into species' sensitivity to environmental change. Because multiple environmental influences may contribute to a range limit, studies focusing on range boundaries can guide management and conservation of these critical populations. To this end, we quantified the environmental factors associated with snowshoe hare ( Lepus americanus ) occurrence at their southern range limit in Wisconsin. We surveyed 199 locations across a regional southern range boundary of snowshoe hares and analyzed the data within an occupancy modeling framework to test the hypothesis that this range boundary results from an interaction between winter climate and land cover. We found that dense vegetation structure and increasing forest and snow cover duration had positive effects on snowshoe hare occupancy along their southern range boundary, supporting our prediction that a suite of abiotic factors is associated with the southerly distribution of this winter‐adapted mammal. These effects were additive and we found limited support for climate–land cover interactions, forest composition, winter snow depth, or predator occurrence. Spatial predictions of occupancy using only forest and snow cover variables denote a sharp range boundary, further illustrating the importance of these variables in shaping this species distribution. Our results highlight an important vulnerability of snowshoe hares to future climate change, and options for mediating this vulnerability through the maintenance of early successional habitat and forested landscapes along their southern range boundary. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.