Habitat use and food habits of snowshoe hares associated with a reclaimed strip mine in interior Alaska

Conference · Thu Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1998

OSTI ID:361663

Elliott, C L ^[1]

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1. Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond, KY (United States). Dept. of Biological Sciences

The value of reclaimed coal stripmine spoils as snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) habitat in interior Alaska was examined. Hare density in 3 cover types (tall shrub, conifer forest, revegetated lands) was determined using the pellet plot method. Hare food habits were determined via microhistological examination of fecal material. Snowshoe hares used the tall shrub cover type more than any other habitat examined. Hare density in the shrub zone was 10/ha in winter and 18/ha in summer. Shrubs (mainly willow species) comprised the major portion of the summer diet (69%), while spruce made up 51% of the winter diet. Based on dietary data and habitat use, the long-term loss of coniferous forests and tall shrubs due to mining, and the lack of emphasis on the re-establishment of woody vegetation in present reclamation procedures; will greatly reduce and possibly eliminate snowshoe hare populations on large-scale surface coal mines in the northern boreal regions.

• OSTI ID: 361663
• Report Number(s): CONF-9805185--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
ALASKA
COAL MINING
HABITAT
POPULATION DENSITY
POPULATION DYNAMICS
RABBITS
REVEGETATION
SPECIES DIVERSITY
SURFACE MINING