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Landry-Ducharme L, Lai S, Vézina F, Tam A, Berteaux D. Vegetation biomass and topography are associated with seasonal habitat selection and fall translocation behavior in Arctic hares. Oecologia 2024; 204:775-788. [PMID: 38554159 PMCID: PMC11062897 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05534-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024]
Abstract
Habitat selection theory suggests that environmental features selected at coarse scales reveal fundamental factors affecting animal fitness. When these factors vary across seasons, they may lead to large-scale movements, including long-distance seasonal migrations. We analyzed the seasonal habitat selection of 25 satellite-tracked Arctic hares from a population on Ellesmere Island (Nunavut, Canada) that relocated over 100 km in the fall. Since no other lagomorph is known to perform such extensive movements, this population offered an ideal setting to test animal movement and habitat selection theory. On summer grounds hares selected low elevation areas, while on winter grounds they selected high vegetation biomass, high elevation, and steep slopes. During fall relocation, they alternated between stopover and traveling behavioral states (ratio 2:1). Stopover locations were characterized by higher vegetation heterogeneity and lower rugosity than traveling locations, while vegetation biomass and elevation interacted to explain stopover locations in a more complex way. The selected combination of environmental features thus varied across seasons and behavioral states, in a way broadly consistent with predictions based on the changing food and safety needs of hares. Although causality was not demonstrated, our results improve our understanding of long-distance movements and habitat selection in Arctic hares, as well as herbivore ecology in the polar desert. Results also provide strong support to animal movement and habitat selection theory, by showing how some important hypotheses hold when tested in a species phylogenetically distinct from most animal models used in this research field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludovic Landry-Ducharme
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
- Canada Research Chair On Northern Biodiversity, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
- Centre for Northern Studies, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
- Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
| | - Sandra Lai
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
- Canada Research Chair On Northern Biodiversity, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
- Centre for Northern Studies, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
- Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
| | - François Vézina
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
- Centre for Northern Studies, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
- Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
| | - Andrew Tam
- Department of National Defence, 8 Wing Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Astra, ON, Canada
| | - Dominique Berteaux
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada.
- Canada Research Chair On Northern Biodiversity, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada.
- Centre for Northern Studies, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada.
- Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, Université du Québec À Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada.
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López‐Torres S, Bhagat R, Bertrand OC, Silcox MT, Fostowicz‐Frelik Ł. Locomotor behavior and hearing sensitivity in an early lagomorph reconstructed from the bony labyrinth. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9890. [PMID: 36942029 PMCID: PMC10024310 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The structure of the bony labyrinth is highly informative with respect to locomotor agility (semicircular canals [SCC]) and hearing sensitivity (cochlear and oval windows). Here, we reconstructed the agility and hearing sensitivity of the stem lagomorph Megalagus turgidus from the early Oligocene of the Brule Formation of Nebraska (USA). Megalagus has proportionally smaller SCCs with respect to its body mass compared with most extant leporids but within the modern range of variability, suggesting that it was less agile than most of its modern relatives. A level of agility for Megalagus within the range of modern rabbits is consistent with the evidence from postcranial elements. The hearing sensitivity for Megalagus is in the range of extant lagomorphs for both low- and high-frequency sounds. Our data show that by the early Oligocene stem lagomorphs had already attained fundamentally rabbit-like hearing sensitivity and locomotor behavior, even though Megalagus was not a particularly agile lagomorph. This is likely because Megalagus was more of a woodland dweller than an open-habitat runner. The study of sensory evolution in Lagomorpha is practically unknown, and these results provide first advances in understanding the primitive stages for the order and how the earliest members of this clade perceived their environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergi López‐Torres
- Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of BiologyUniversity of WarsawWarsawPoland
- Division of PaleontologyAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary PrimatologyNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Raj Bhagat
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Toronto ScarboroughTorontoOntarioCanada
| | - Ornella C. Bertrand
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel CrusafontUniversitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA‐ICPCerdanyola del VallèsSpain
| | - Mary T. Silcox
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Toronto ScarboroughTorontoOntarioCanada
| | - Łucja Fostowicz‐Frelik
- Department of Organismal Biology and AnatomyThe University of ChicagoChicagoIllinoisUSA
- Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and PaleoanthropologyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- Department of Evolutionary Paleobiology, Institute of PaleobiologyPolish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
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Burns KC, Low J. The psychology of natural history. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:1029-1031. [PMID: 36180272 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Revised: 09/04/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Natural history observations are an integral part of ecology and evolution. However, they can be underappreciated because they operate independent of the scientific method. Here, we illustrate that the science of natural history has its own methodology based on a well-known psychological paradigm that describes how the human mind learns.
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Affiliation(s)
- K C Burns
- Te Kura Mātauranga Koiora∣School of Biological Sciences, Te Herenga Waka∣Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
| | - Jason Low
- Te Kura Mātai Hinengaro∣School of Psychology, Te Herenga Waka∣Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
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Long-distance, synchronized and directional fall movements suggest migration in Arctic hares on Ellesmere Island (Canada). Sci Rep 2022; 12:5003. [PMID: 35322061 PMCID: PMC8943133 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08347-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal migration contributes largely to the seasonal dynamics of High Arctic ecosystems, linking distant habitats and impacting ecosystem structure and function. In polar deserts, Arctic hares are abundant herbivores and important components of food webs. Their annual migrations have long been suspected, but never confirmed. We tracked 25 individuals with Argos satellite telemetry to investigate the existence of migration in a population living at Alert (Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada). During fall, 21 hares undertook directional, long-distance movements in a southwestern direction towards Lake Hazen. Daily movement rates averaged 1.3 ± 0.5 km, 4.3 ± 1.6 km, and 1.7 ± 0.9 km before, during, and after relocation, respectively. Straight-line and minimum cumulative distances traveled averaged 98 ± 18 km (range: 72-148 km) and 198 ± 62 km (range: 113-388 km), respectively. This is the first report of large-scale seasonal movements in Arctic hares and, surprisingly, in any lagomorph species. These movements may be part of an annual migratory pattern. Our results redefine our understanding of the spatial ecology of Arctic hares, demonstrate unsuspected mobility capacities in lagomorphs, and open new perspectives regarding the ecological dynamics of the northern polar deserts.
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