Abstract
BackgroundIn Denmark and many other European countries, harvest records suggest a marked decline in European brown hare numbers, a decline often attributed to the agricultural practice. In the present study, we analyse the association between agricultural land-use, predator abundance and winter severity on the number of European brown hares harvested in Denmark in the years 1955 through 2000.ResultsWinter cereals had a significant negative association with European brown hare numbers. In contrast to this, root crop area was positively related to their numbers. Remaining crop categories were not significantly associated with the European brown hare numbers, though grass out of rotation tended to be positively related. The areas of root crop production and of grass out of rotation have been reduced by approximately 80% and 50%, respectively, while the area of winter cereals has increased markedly (>70%). However, European brown hare numbers were primarily negatively associated with the number of red fox. Finally, we also found a positive association between mild winters and European brown hare numbers.ConclusionThe decline of Danish European brown hare populations can mainly be attributed to predation by red fox, but the development in agricultural land-use during the last 45 years have also affected the European brown hare numbers negatively. Additionally, though mild winters were beneficial to European brown hares, the increasing frequency of mild winters during the study period was insufficient to reverse the negative population trend.
Highlights
In Denmark and many other European countries, harvest records suggest a marked decline in European brown hare numbers, a decline often attributed to the agricultural practice
In the period 1955–2000 the European brown hare harvest record declined steadily in all the Danish districts but one: On the island Bornholm the European brown hare population declined until the late 1980s, but has increased markedly since and has reached a level higher than that of 1955 (Fig. 1)
Using data covering almost half a century, our analyses suggest that the dramatic decline in the Danish European brown hares can be attributed mainly to the negative effect of red foxes, and to the agricultural land-use
Summary
In Denmark and many other European countries, harvest records suggest a marked decline in European brown hare numbers, a decline often attributed to the agricultural practice. We analyse the association between agricultural land-use, predator abundance and winter severity on the number of European brown hares harvested in Denmark in the years through 2000. Fields have become larger, which has resulted in widespread fragmentation of remaining habitats, and today the landscape appears as a mosaic of natural habitats surrounded by cultivated land [1,2]. These changes in agriculture have affected a number of wildlife species living in this man-made landscape. The European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in particular has experienced a dramatic decline in many European countries [reviewed by [6]], including Denmark [7,8]
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