Abstract
The primary cause of the long-term decline in European hares’ (Lepus europaeus) population throughout Europe is widely assumed to be the intensification of agriculture. A critical component in this population dynamics is seen in the survival of leverets from birth to reproductive age. In European hares, the first stage of life until weaning has been sparsely studied, in particular habitat selection, movements and survival rate, as juveniles’ precocial lifestyle is dominated by any kind of anti-predation behaviour. In the present study, free-living and pre-weaning European hares were detected systematically by thermography (n = 394), being radio-tagged or marked (n = 229) from birth until the fifth week of life to research the early juvenile survival and proximate causes of mortality. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were computed overall and in relation to the strata of season, sex and type of daytime resting place. The survival rate of radio-tagged leverets was 0.35 in the first month of life, and 0.63, 0.52 and 0.44 for the first, second and third week of life, respectively. Approximately 21.6% and 50% of all confirmed deaths occurred during the first 7 and 13 days after birth. By the end of the 4th week of life, the mortality rate caused by predation, suspected predation, agricultural practices and unexplained cases was 41.7%, 36.7%, 11.7% and 10.0%, respectively. There was no significant difference in survival between the sexes and seasons. In contrast, young hares died more frequently as a consequence of choosing a hiding place without shelter during the daytime.
Highlights
Since the 1960s, the population of the European hare (Lepus europaeus) has declined dramatically across Europe (Edwards et al 2000; Flux and Angermann 1990)
The findings thereof significantly improved the understanding of the ecological relationships of this species in today’s cultural landscape, e.g. habitat associations (Meichtry-Stier et al 2014; Reitz and Léonard 1994; Vaughan et al 2003); reproductive biology (Frylestam 1980; Roellig et al 2011); energetics and nutrition (Hackländer et al 2002b; Reichlin et al 2006; Stalder et al 2019); activity patterns (Homolka 1986; SchaiBraun et al 2012; Zaccaroni et al 2013); agricultural practices (Kaluzinski and Pielowski 1976; Marboutin and Aebischer 1996); survival, predation and hunting
394 individual hares were detected by thermography during the study period, of which 70% were found in season I and 30% in season II
Summary
Since the 1960s, the population of the European hare (Lepus europaeus) has declined dramatically across Europe (Edwards et al 2000; Flux and Angermann 1990). Despite the long-term decrease, the European hare is still widespread in its historical range and is considered to be an important game species (Flux and Angermann 1990; Hackländer and Schai-Braun 2018), which leads to a conflict arising between protection and sustainable use. In this context, the number of studies on adult and subadult European hares and related species has increased in various biological disciplines in recent decades. The findings thereof significantly improved the understanding of the ecological relationships of this species in today’s cultural landscape, e.g. habitat associations (Meichtry-Stier et al 2014; Reitz and Léonard 1994; Vaughan et al 2003); reproductive biology (Frylestam 1980; Roellig et al 2011); energetics and nutrition (Hackländer et al 2002b; Reichlin et al 2006; Stalder et al 2019); activity patterns (Homolka 1986; SchaiBraun et al 2012; Zaccaroni et al 2013); agricultural practices (Kaluzinski and Pielowski 1976; Marboutin and Aebischer 1996); survival, predation and hunting
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