Pacific Northwest Research Station

Title: Influence of precommercial thinning on snowshoe hares.

Author: Bull, Evelyn L.; Heater, Thad W.; Clark, Abe A.; Shepherd, Jay F.; Blumton, Arlene K.

Date: 2005

Source: Res. Pap. PNW-RP-562. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 16 p

Station ID: RP-PNW-562

Description: Relative abundance, survival, home range, and habitat use of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) were evaluated in five precommercial thinning treatments in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) stands in northeastern Oregon between June 2000 and July 2003. A combination of track surveys, trapping grids, and radiocollared hares was used to evaluate these characteristics. Relative abundance of snowshoe hare tracks was highest in unthinned control stands and lowest in the recently thinned stands. The highest abundance of snowshoe hares in trapping grids occurred in patch cuts (10-m-wide cuts interspersed with unthinned patches 10 to 30 m wide). Hare home ranges were smallest in the patch cuts. Habitat use changed seasonally, with hares using denser stands during summer and more open stands in winter. In the short term, the patch cut appeared to provide the best hare habitat of the treatments investigated.

Keywords: Fuel reduction, Lepus americanus, northeastern Oregon, snowshoe hare, thinning

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Citation

Bull, Evelyn L.; Heater, Thad W.; Clark, Abe A.; Shepherd, Jay F.; Blumton, Arlene K.  2005.  Influence of precommercial thinning on snowshoe hares..   Res. Pap. PNW-RP-562. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 16 p