Niche overlap of mountain hare subspecies and the vulnerability of their ranges to invasion by the European hare; the (bad) luck of the Irish

Abstract

Niche conservatism is the tendency of related species to retain ancestral tolerances after geographic separation. We used Ecological Niche Modelling and Principal Components Analysis of bioclimatic and habitat variables to describe the extent of the species niche, and degrees of bioclimatichabitat niche conservatism within the mountain hare (L. timidus) clade. Mountain hare niche space was contrasted with that of the European hare (L. europaeus), to shed light on species interactions in contact zones throughout Europe. All five subspecies of mountain hare had quantifiably distinct niches. Fennoscandian (L.t. sylvaticus, L.t. timidus) and highland (L.t. scoticus, L.t. varronis) subspecies, however, were most similar, exhibiting greatest apparent niche conservatism. They inhabit tundra, boreal forest and uplands, and, hence are presumed most similar to the ancestral form. The Irish hare was distinct, being consistently distinguished from other mountain hares in both 2D and nth dimensional (4D) niche space. The ecological distinctiveness of the Irish hare provides further evidence that it is an Evolutionarily Significant Unit, particularly vulnerable to Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

Risk of Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) introduction and spread in CCHF-free countries in southern and Western Europe: A semi-quantitative risk assessment

“…Hare is considered to be one of the main wildlife reservoir for CCHFV [ 1 ], playing a pivotal role in the epidemiology of the disease [ 50 ]. The European hare is the most common hare species in Europe, and it has one of the largest range of any mammal species [ 51 ]. For this reason, if CCHFV enters into an EU free country, the potential risk for the virus spreading may be quite high.…”

Alpine glacial relict species losing out to climate change: The case of the fragmented mountain hare population (Lepus timidus) in the Alps

“…Finally, European hares ( Lepus europaeus ), which occupy a similar niche in the lower altitudes of the study region (Hackländer & Jenny, ), may benefit from increasing temperatures and expand their range to higher elevations (Hackländer & Jenny, ), which may lead to interspecific competition (Caravaggi, Montgomery, & Reid, ; Caravaggi et al., ; Jansson & Pehrson, ; Reid, ; Thulin, ) or even introgression (Zachos et al., ) with mountain hares. Since our model does not include interspecific interactions, we cannot exclude the possibility that the observed pattern may be influenced by competitive exclusion.…”

Mountain hare transcriptome and diagnostic markers as resources to monitor hybridization with European hares

“…1 ). Climate change is predicted to affect lagomorphs extensively 5 , 6 and, in particular, to accelerate the replacement of mountain hares by European hares in the contact zones, such as the Alps, Sweden or Ireland 7 , 8 . The two species may hybridize when in contact, resulting in some genetic introgression 9–13 , with potential effects on local adaptation 14 .…”