TY - JOUR
T1 - Food Quality, Security, and Thermal Refuge Influence the Use of Microsites and Patches by Pygmy Rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) Across Landscapes and Seasons
AU - Olsoy, Peter J.
AU - Milling, Charlotte R.
AU - Nobler, Jordan D.
AU - Camp, Meghan J.
AU - Shipley, Lisa A.
AU - Forbey, Jennifer S.
AU - Rachlow, Janet L.
AU - Thornton, Daniel H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022/5/1
Y1 - 2022/5/1
N2 - How intensely animals use habitat features depends on their functional properties (i.e., how the feature influences fitness) and the spatial and temporal scale considered. For herbivores, habitat use is expected to reflect the competing risks of starvation, predation, and thermal stress, but the relative influence of each functional property is expected to vary in space and time. We examined how a dietary and habitat specialist, the pygmy rabbit ( Brachylagus idahoensis ), used these functional properties of its sagebrush habitat—food quality, security, and thermal refuge—at two hierarchical spatial scales (microsite and patch) across two seasons (winter and summer). At the microsite and patch scales, we determined which plant functional traits predicted the number of bites (i.e., foraging) by pygmy rabbits and the number of their fecal pellets (i.e., general habitat use). Pygmy rabbits used microsites and patches more intensely that had higher crude protein and aerial concealment cover and were closer to burrows. Food quality was more influential when rabbits used microsites within patches. Security was more influential in winter than summer, and more at Cedar Gulch than Camas. However, the influence of functional properties depended on phytochemical and structural properties of sagebrush and was not spatiotemporally consistent. These results show function-dependent habitat use that varied according to specific activities by a central-place browsing herbivore. Making spatially explicit predictions of the relative value of habitat features that influence different types of habitat use (i.e., foraging, hiding, and thermoregulating) will improve how we predict patterns of habitat use by herbivores and how we monitor and manage functional traits within habitats for wildlife.
AB - How intensely animals use habitat features depends on their functional properties (i.e., how the feature influences fitness) and the spatial and temporal scale considered. For herbivores, habitat use is expected to reflect the competing risks of starvation, predation, and thermal stress, but the relative influence of each functional property is expected to vary in space and time. We examined how a dietary and habitat specialist, the pygmy rabbit ( Brachylagus idahoensis ), used these functional properties of its sagebrush habitat—food quality, security, and thermal refuge—at two hierarchical spatial scales (microsite and patch) across two seasons (winter and summer). At the microsite and patch scales, we determined which plant functional traits predicted the number of bites (i.e., foraging) by pygmy rabbits and the number of their fecal pellets (i.e., general habitat use). Pygmy rabbits used microsites and patches more intensely that had higher crude protein and aerial concealment cover and were closer to burrows. Food quality was more influential when rabbits used microsites within patches. Security was more influential in winter than summer, and more at Cedar Gulch than Camas. However, the influence of functional properties depended on phytochemical and structural properties of sagebrush and was not spatiotemporally consistent. These results show function-dependent habitat use that varied according to specific activities by a central-place browsing herbivore. Making spatially explicit predictions of the relative value of habitat features that influence different types of habitat use (i.e., foraging, hiding, and thermoregulating) will improve how we predict patterns of habitat use by herbivores and how we monitor and manage functional traits within habitats for wildlife.
KW - food quality
KW - functional properties
KW - multi-scale habitat use
KW - predation risk
KW - security cover
KW - thermal refuge
UR - https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/bio_facpubs/718
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130586402&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ece3.8892
DO - 10.1002/ece3.8892
M3 - Article
VL - 12
JO - History Faculty Publications and Presentations
JF - History Faculty Publications and Presentations
IS - 5
M1 - e8892
ER -