Abstract
Population estimations are necessary for effective conservation management. In Italy, brown hare populations are commonly censused by spotlighting, but this method does not seem to suit an alpine environment due to its vegetational and orographical complexity. The aim of this study is to evaluate the critical aspects related to spotlight census method in an alpine environment. Spotlight was carried out along two transects of a typical alpine environment. Observed animals were used to define density (number of animal seen/100 ha) and method precision (coefficient of variation (CV) applied to monthly repeated observations). Animal detectability was evaluated using half-normal function with cosine expansion (Distance 5.0®). Animal observability was evaluated by analyzing density estimates related to habitat conformation (unseen areas or full visibility). The exact surface surveyed by spotlighting was evaluated, defining the observation spotlight beam range (OTA) and the land useful sighting (LUS). In the end, LUS was classified in three patches according to hare presence: no hares, occasional hare presence, and constant hare presence. To evaluate habitat influence onto CV, we used a bootstrap simulation. The results show that spotlighting alone is not the most suitable method to apply in the alpine environment because habitat structure highly influences census results. Recommendations to improve spotlight surveys for monitoring European brown hare populations are given.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Comprensorio Alpino CN2, Valle Varaita for allowing us to gather field data and for the logistic support. Davide Bonetto, Marco Ghirardi, Omar Giordano, Livio Martino, Massimiliano Pellerino, and Andrea Rimbotti for their help in hare surveys. Jesus Pérez Jiménez who furnished useful suggestions.
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Communicated by: Karol Zub
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Tizzani, P., Menzano, A., Dematteis, A. et al. Methodological problems related to spotlight count as a census technique for Lepus europaeus in an alpine environment. Acta Theriol 59, 271–276 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-013-0157-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-013-0157-6