We collected harvest and survey information on ∼800 antelope jackrabbits (Lepus alleni) and 27 black-tailed jackrabbits (L. californicus) from 2009 to 2020. These data indicated that abundance varied annually and that the antelope jackrabbit population in the study area neither increased nor decreased greatly during the 12 years of the study, while black-tailed jackrabbit numbers remained low. The reasons for population changes in antelope jackrabbits appear complex and include variations in recruitment rate that were not positively related to precipitation amounts that could not be used to predict hunter success. Correlation coefficients between antelope jackrabbit hunt success and the numbers of antelope jackrabbits seen on belt transects weakly correlated with an index to bobcat (Lynx rufus) abundance indicating that further understanding of jackrabbit population dynamics will require investigating factors that affect changes in annual survival rate.
How to translate text using browser tools
9 October 2020
Fluctuations in a Jackrabbit Population, 2009 -2020
David E. Brown,
Maria M. Altemus,
Randall D. Babb,
Jim Heffelfinger,
Karen Klima
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE