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The research presented in this paper provides an insight into the behavioral ecology of mountain hares on heather moorland in the Lammermuir Hills of southeast Scotland. We examine the seasonal and diel activity patterns using camera traps over a period of 12 months. The rate of camera detections was calculated for the different divisions of the 24‐hr cycle (daylight, dusk, night, and dawn). During autumn and winter (October–February), the activity pattern was crepuscular with greater activity at dusk than at dawn. Daylight activity was relatively low, and there was a regular pattern of small peaks of activity during the night. In spring and summer (March–September), peaks of crepuscular activity remained evident but daylight activity was much more prevalent than during autumn and winter, and night activity was lower. We discuss the problematic definition of twilight and present an explanation for seasonal changes in the pattern of diel activity that is linked to the reproductive cycle of the mountain hare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populations on the limits of species' distribution can show different behavioral adaptations to strong ecological pressure than in the central part of the range. We investigated space use patterns of alpine mountain hare ( Lepus timidus) at two areas on the southern edge of the species' range. We monitored 34 hares between 2005 and 2008, estimating home range size, overlap, and site fidelity, and compared our results with space use in Scottish and North-European populations. Home ranges of mountain hares did not differ between two study areas with different habitat types. Subadult animals used larger ranges than adults and both age groups reduced home range size in autumn, a period that might be critical for hares due to changes in diet and/or high energy expenditure during the previous breeding season. Home ranges in these alpine populations were smaller than in Scandinavian populations but within the range of populations in different habitat types in Scotland. Seasonal home ranges overlapped considerably, but differed among the sexes: male-female overlap was higher than same sex (male-male and female-female) spatial overlap. Seasonal shifts of home ranges were small, and site fidelity remained high over the seasons, suggesting that resource distribution remained constant throughout the year and that the knowledge of an intensively frequented area is an important element of habitat quality. We concluded that habitat structure and availability of mates interact in affecting mountain hare space use in alpine habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BSTRACT A questionnaire survey of land owners, managers and gamekeepers was conducted in order to assess the distribution of mountain hares in Scotland, assess their current management, collate numbers harvested in 2006-07 and estimate distribution change by comparing with similar data collected in 1995-96. The land area covered by returned questionnaires was 71098km [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the drivers of population fluctuations is a central goal of ecology. Although well-established theory suggests that parasites can drive cyclic population fluctuations in their hosts, field evidence is lacking. Theory predicts that a parasite that loosely aggregates in the host population and has stronger impact on host fecundity than survival should induce cycling. The helminth Trichostrongylus retortaeformis in the UK's only native lagomorph, the mountain hare, has exactly these properties, and the hares exhibit strong population fluctuations. Here we use a host–parasite model parametrized using the available empirical data to test this superficial concordance between theory and observation. In fact, through an innovative combination of sensitivity and stability analyses, we show that hare population cycles do not seem to be driven by the parasite. Potential limitations in our parametrization and model formulation, together with the possible secondary roles for parasites in determining hare demography, are discussed. Improving our knowledge of leveret biology and the quantification of harvesting emerge as future research priorities. With the growing concern over the present management of mountain hares for disease control in Scotland, understanding their population drivers is an important prerequisite for the effective management of this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Rangelands, produced by grazing herbivores, are important for a variety of agricultural, hunting, recreation and conservation objectives world-wide. Typically, there is little quantitative evidence regarding the magnitude of the grazing impact of different herbivores on rangeland habitats to inform their management. 2. We quantified the grazing and trampling impact of sheep, cattle, red deer Cervus elaphus, rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, mountain hares Lepus timidus and red grouse Lagopus lagopus on open-hill habitats in 11 areas of upland Scotland. The degradation of heather in upland Scotland Calluna vulgaris-dominated habitats, of conservation significance at a European scale, has been attributed, anecdotally, to increasing sheep and red deer populations. 3. Field indicators of habitat condition were used to generate a five-point scale of impact in vegetation polygons of seven habitats. The presence of each herbivore species was attributed on the basis of ‘signs’ of occupancy. A Bayesian regression model was used to analyse the association of herbivore species with grazing impact on plant communities, controlling for environmental attributes. 4. Overall the presence of sheep was associated with the largest increase (7/11 areas) in grazing and trampling impact of all herbivores. Cattle had the second largest impact but generally this was restricted to fewer areas and habitats than sheep. In contrast, impacts associated with wild herbivores tended to be small and only significant locally. 5. Although red deer presence was associated with a significantly lower impact than sheep, this impact increased with increasing deer density at both land-ownership and regional scales. For sheep there was little or no evidence of density dependence. 6. Synthesis and applications. The higher impact associated with sheep presence probably reflects their greater aggregation because of their limited ranging behaviour, exacerbated by sheep being herded in places convenient for land managers. Consequently, future reductions in sheep numbers as a result of reform of European Union farming policies may limit the extent of their impact, but not necessarily the local magnitude. However, reductions in sheep stocks may lead to increases in deer densities, with greater impact, particularly in heather-dominated habitats. Where habitat conservation is a priority this may well require a reduction in deer numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the results of the studies made by Laurenson and colleagues regarding the importance of mountain hares on the persistence of looping-ill in a red grouse population at a site in Morayshire, Scotland. Lack of rigorous experimental design; Failure of the researchers to demonstrate that the removal of mountain hares has any effect on the potential harvest of red grouse; Argument that the impact of louping-ill on grouse dynamics need further investigation before making any firm conclusions.

Examines the use of heather by mountain hares in north-east Scotland. Seasonal pattern of grazing; Types of heather most used by hares; Types of heather used by deer and grouse on moors where hares are present; Comparison of the diet of hares in spring and autumn.

Examines summer growth, winter dieback and grazing of heather on moors in Scotland. Comparison with number of red grouse and mountain hares; Determinants of variations in amount of edible heather during spring; Relationship of spring yields with the number of hares.

In a study of grazing interactions of Blackface sheep, red grouse and mountain hare on a hill grazing in the Pentland Hills, Scotland, the variation in the mineral content of nine vegetation types were investigated. The estimated number of samples required to absorb spatial variation varied with the element determined and the vegetation type making it difficult to define an effective sampling program. A two-stage procedure appears to be the most useful approach. Within season variation was considerable but had a similar pattern for like vegetation.

Studies the home range of mountain hares in north-east Scotland by radiotracking between 1982 and 1986. Size of the ranges; Movements; Formation of hare groups.

(1) Grazing preferences of mountain hares in relation to the area available of each of seven main classes of moorland vegetation in north-east Scotland were studied by means of dung plots in 1984-85. (2) On heather moorland adjacent to reseeded hill pastures, mountain hares preferred the youngest class of heather (pioneer) followed by successive age-classes of early-building and late-building. If pioneer heather contained >20% of grass, it was less preferred than early-building heather. Wild grass was preferred to all types of heather except pioneer, but reseeded hill pastures ranked fifth in use among the seven categories of vegetation. (3) Preferences between the main classes of vegetation were consistent over 2 years. (4) Within the main classes of vegetation (five of heather, two of grass), there were consistent differences between sites. These were associated with the proportion of grass among pioneer heather, preferred sites having > 20% heather cover and less grass than the other sites. Preferred sites on early-building heather resembled pioneer heather more closely than did less preferred sites. Selection against height of building heather was the likeliest cause of preferences, and probably a contributory cause in old heather, (5) Old heather, covering 37% of the study area, was used more if it contained open spaces big enough to contain a grazing hare. (6) On hill pastures, grazing by mountain hares declined sharply when sheep were introduced; numbers of sheep and hares were negatively correlated. (7) Hill sheep preferred the same types of moorland vegetation as mountain hares. There was no obvious competition between hares and rabbits, and grazing by red deer was negligible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) On heather moorland in Shetland, mountain hares (Lepus timidus L.) were more numerous than in other Scottish islands, the west and north-west of Scotland and the north of England. (2) In winter, hares were widely spaced on heather-dominated vegetation. In spring, they commonly occurred it dyads <10 m apart. (3) Available shelter from weather and predators was less good in Shetland than in north-eastern Scotland, where mountain hares are most abundant. (4) Exposure limits the growth of heather in Shetland, and. extensive burning, leading to the replacement of heather by Molinia and Trichophorum heaths, as practised in west and north-west Scotland, does not occur. (5) The large extent of heather (the main food of mountain hares) in Shetland compared with many parts of mainland Scotland probably accounts for the relative abundance of hares, and is likely to be more important than the absence of predators upon adult hares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) The method described enables rapid polishing of sections of bone tissue to permit age determination from annual growth lines. (2) A sample of mandibles from twenty mountain hares of known age from N.E. Scotland provided a calibration for the method. (3) The growth lines probably form during the autumn, in October and November, and hence the method is less accurate if applied then. This loss of accuracy applies generally to age determinations using growth lines and has often been overlooked. (4) in the population of mountain hare females studied in 1984, there was a scarcity of females born in 1980. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study to compare reproduction of the mountain hare Lepus timidus on two moors in North-East Scotland, which differed in geology, vegetation. Onset and cessation of pregnancy; Number of litters and production of young; Variation in litter size between moors; Factors effecting litter size and productibility.