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1 December 2008 Use of Residual Forest by Snowshoe Hare in a Clear-cut Boreal Landscape
Martin-Hugues St-Laurent, Marianne Cusson, Jean Ferron, Alain Caron
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Abstract

The short-term negative impacts on Lepus americanus (Snowshoe Hare) of logging activities in boreal forest are widely recognized, and conservation efforts are being taken now in designing residual forest stands to maintain use of logged landscapes by hares. This study evaluated the effectiveness of three types of residual stands in maintaining hares during the high phase of hare density cycle in Picea mariana (Black Spruce) forest of eastern Canada. Residual forest stands sampled were upland strips (60 m wide, 250–950 m long, mesic conditions), riparian strips (100 m wide, 250–950 m long, along a permanent stream), and residual blocks (200–300 m wide, 20–50 ha). Control stands were undisturbed forest. All stands were considered mature (56–97 years old). Pellet and browse surveys were conducted during spring 1998 and 1999. Hare abundance indices were significantly lower (1999), or tended to be lower (1998), in strips than in blocks, although habitat composition and structure of the treatments did not differ from control stands. Pellet presence was positively related to vertical cover. In 1998, foraging activity (browsing) was significantly higher in control and block landscapes than in strip landscapes; browsing was positively related to availability of ericaceous and deciduous twigs. In 1998, twenty Snowshoe Hares were radio-tracked in residual stands to monitor their summer home ranges, fidelity to capture sites and to type of residual stand, use of clear-cuts and uncut forest, and daily movements. There was a clear trend towards lower fidelity to strips than to blocks, and summer home ranges and daily movements (>330 m) tended to be larger in strips compared to those in blocks. Our study suggests that up to 5 years after logging, residual forest blocks appeared to be more suitable habitat in summer for Snowshoe Hare than were 60-m-wide strips.

Martin-Hugues St-Laurent, Marianne Cusson, Jean Ferron, and Alain Caron "Use of Residual Forest by Snowshoe Hare in a Clear-cut Boreal Landscape," Northeastern Naturalist 15(4), 497-514, (1 December 2008). https://doi.org/10.1656/1092-6194-15.4.497
Published: 1 December 2008
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