Reliably detecting snowshoe hares with winter track counts
ABSTRACT We determined the optimum transect length and spacing for detecting snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) from snow‐track surveys in a fixed area. We also evaluated the utility of the most reliable and efficient designs for indexing hare density. We constructed enclosures (∼6.1 ha) at 2 location...
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Wiley
2016-03-01
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| Series: | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.630 |
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| author | David M. Burt Gary J. Roloff Dwayne R. Etter Eric Clark |
| author_facet | David M. Burt Gary J. Roloff Dwayne R. Etter Eric Clark |
| author_sort | David M. Burt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT We determined the optimum transect length and spacing for detecting snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) from snow‐track surveys in a fixed area. We also evaluated the utility of the most reliable and efficient designs for indexing hare density. We constructed enclosures (∼6.1 ha) at 2 locations in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA, and populated the enclosures with radiocollared hares. Hare densities ranged from 0.2 to 1.5 hares/ha in the enclosures, comparable to low and high densities recorded at the southern extent of snowshoe hare range. During winters of 2012–2014, we conducted snow‐track surveys along 9 transects spaced 25 m apart in the enclosures 12–65 hr after a snowfall and mapped the location of every track that intersected a transect. After standardizing the track maps by time since last snowfall, we simulated different transect lengths and spacing and evaluated whether hares were documented on the resultant transect segments. We deemed transect configurations reliable if >90% of the 10,000 simulations correctly denoted the site as occupied. Of the 28 possible transect configurations, only 10 combinations were found to reliably detect hares. We refined the 10 reliable configurations based on efficiency, where efficiency was based on the distance traversed by a surveyor. We recommend using transects that are 150 m in length with 100‐m or 75‐m spacing, or 125 m in length with 75‐m spacing to reliably and efficiently survey a fixed area for snowshoe hares. © 2016 The Wildlife Society. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-33bc10dade03400588bc9bfe0fcba371 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2328-5540 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
| spelling | doaj-art-33bc10dade03400588bc9bfe0fcba3712025-08-20T02:36:28ZengWileyWildlife Society Bulletin2328-55402016-03-0140112212910.1002/wsb.630Reliably detecting snowshoe hares with winter track countsDavid M. Burt0Gary J. Roloff1Dwayne R. Etter2Eric Clark3Department of Fisheries and WildlifeMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMI48824USADepartment of Fisheries and WildlifeMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMI48824USAMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesLansingMI48909USAInland Fish and Wildlife DepartmentSault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa IndiansSault Ste. MarieMI49783USAABSTRACT We determined the optimum transect length and spacing for detecting snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) from snow‐track surveys in a fixed area. We also evaluated the utility of the most reliable and efficient designs for indexing hare density. We constructed enclosures (∼6.1 ha) at 2 locations in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA, and populated the enclosures with radiocollared hares. Hare densities ranged from 0.2 to 1.5 hares/ha in the enclosures, comparable to low and high densities recorded at the southern extent of snowshoe hare range. During winters of 2012–2014, we conducted snow‐track surveys along 9 transects spaced 25 m apart in the enclosures 12–65 hr after a snowfall and mapped the location of every track that intersected a transect. After standardizing the track maps by time since last snowfall, we simulated different transect lengths and spacing and evaluated whether hares were documented on the resultant transect segments. We deemed transect configurations reliable if >90% of the 10,000 simulations correctly denoted the site as occupied. Of the 28 possible transect configurations, only 10 combinations were found to reliably detect hares. We refined the 10 reliable configurations based on efficiency, where efficiency was based on the distance traversed by a surveyor. We recommend using transects that are 150 m in length with 100‐m or 75‐m spacing, or 125 m in length with 75‐m spacing to reliably and efficiently survey a fixed area for snowshoe hares. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.630Lepus americanusMichigansnowshoe haresnow‐track surveyssurvey methodologytransect configuration |
| spellingShingle | David M. Burt Gary J. Roloff Dwayne R. Etter Eric Clark Reliably detecting snowshoe hares with winter track counts Wildlife Society Bulletin Lepus americanus Michigan snowshoe hare snow‐track surveys survey methodology transect configuration |
| title | Reliably detecting snowshoe hares with winter track counts |
| title_full | Reliably detecting snowshoe hares with winter track counts |
| title_fullStr | Reliably detecting snowshoe hares with winter track counts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reliably detecting snowshoe hares with winter track counts |
| title_short | Reliably detecting snowshoe hares with winter track counts |
| title_sort | reliably detecting snowshoe hares with winter track counts |
| topic | Lepus americanus Michigan snowshoe hare snow‐track surveys survey methodology transect configuration |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.630 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidmburt reliablydetectingsnowshoehareswithwintertrackcounts AT garyjroloff reliablydetectingsnowshoehareswithwintertrackcounts AT dwayneretter reliablydetectingsnowshoehareswithwintertrackcounts AT ericclark reliablydetectingsnowshoehareswithwintertrackcounts |