Coexistence of European hares and Alpine mountain hares in the Alps: what drives the occurrence and frequency of their hybrids?

Author:

Schai‐Braun S. C.1ORCID,Schwienbacher S.123,Smith S.4,Hackländer K.15

Affiliation:

1. Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research, Institute for Wildlife Biology and Game Management University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna Austria

2. Abteilung Forstwirtschaft Amt für Jagd und Fischerei Autonome Provinz Bozen Bozen Italy

3. Forststation Kaltern Kaltern an der Weinstrasse Italy

4. Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Austria

5. Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung (German Wildlife Foundation) Hamburg Germany

Abstract

AbstractAs a glacial relict species, mountain hares are adapted to cold and snowy conditions. Conversely, European hares originate from the grasslands of the Middle East and spread from there throughout low‐lying agricultural areas of Europe. Mountain hares and European hares generally occur allopatrically, however, sympatry occurs in some areas. In sympatric areas, introgressive hybridisation poses a threat to the Alpine mountain hare by reducing its genetic integrity. Introgressed individuals can be found in both species but are far more frequent in European hares than in mountain hares. The ecology of hybrids is poorly known in these species. To examine the Alpine mountain hare and European hare populations in the Alps with a particular focus on the occurrence and ecology of their hybrids, we performed molecular genetic analysis of hare faecal samples collected in four study areas in the Alps in South Tyrol for three winters and compared habitat associations of the genotyped samples. We recorded 150 individuals (i.e. 14 hybrids, 25 European hares and 111 Alpine mountain hares). Four introgressed individuals were at levels consistent with F2 hybrids, whereas the others showed an older interspecific gene flow. We found that hybrid faeces tended to be at lower elevations compared to those of Alpine mountain hare but at higher elevations than those of the European hare. The frequency of Alpine mountain hares decreased as the proportion of Alpine grassland increased but was positively correlated with the proportion of dwarf shrub heaths. No effect of vegetation type was found for the frequency of European hares and hybrids. Our results support the widely raised concerns that the European hare, as a generalist, is a strong competitor with the Alpine mountain hare in the Alpine ecosystem in the time of global climate change.

Publisher

Wiley

Subject

Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Reference51 articles.

1. Fluctuation of a hare population in the Tomakomai Experiment Forest;Abe H.;Research Bulletins of the College Experiment Forests, Hokkaido University,1987

2. The hare population (Lepus europaeus Pallas) of Illumø Island, Denmark. A report on the analysis of the data from 1957–1970;Abildgård F.;Danish Review of Game Biology,1972

3. A Model-Based Method for Identifying Species Hybrids Using Multilocus Genetic Data

4. Mountain Hare Lepus timidus Linnaeus, 1758

5. Population genetics of cape and brown hares (Lepus capensis and L. europaeus): A test of Petter's hypothesis of conspecificity

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3