title: A natural feeding experiment on a declining snowshoe hare population.
abstract: A snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) population on a 9-ha area was supplied with extra natural food by chopping down large white spruce (Picea glauca) and aspen (Populus tremuloides) trees throughout 3 winters from 1981 to 1984. Hares fed vigorously on the downed trees, but the phase of decline of the ten-year cycle occurred equally on control and experimental grids from 1981-1983, and we could detect no improvement in survival or reproduction on the food area. Growth rates were improved on the food grid during the first winter of the decline (1981-82). We concluded that food shortage is not necessary for the cyclic decline of snowshoe hares in the southern Yukon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, V6T 1W5, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
authors.forename: Charles J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Krebs
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, V6T 1W5, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
authors.forename: Stan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boutin
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, V6T 1W5, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Gilbert
keywords: Food; Population declines; Snowshoe hare