Moose and snowshoe hare competition and a mechanistic explanation from foraging theory

Moose (Alces alces) and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) appear to compete with each other. This was determined using the "natural experiments" of populations found in sympatry and allopatry on islands at Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, and manipulated exclosures. The population densi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oecologia 1984-02, Vol.61 (2), p.150-159
Main Author: Belovsky, G.E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alces alces
Animal and plant ecology
Animal feeding behavior
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Ecological competition
Economic competition
Food
Food security
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hares
Herbivores
Lepus americanus
Modeling
Parametric models
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Summary:Moose (Alces alces) and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) appear to compete with each other. This was determined using the "natural experiments" of populations found in sympatry and allopatry on islands at Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, and manipulated exclosures. The population densities from these areas are fit to a series of competition models based upon different competitive mechanisms (Schoener 1974a), using non-linear regression techniques. A model of competition for food where the food can be separated into exclusively used and shared categories is found to predict observed densities of moose and hare best. Finally, the competition model's parameters (fraction of food shared and competition coefficients) are shown to agree with values predicted independently from a foraging model.
ISSN:0029-8549
1432-1939
DOI:10.1007/BF00396753