The flexibility of an intermediate feeder: dietary selection by mountain hares measured using faecal n-alkanes

Herbivores with an intermediate feeding strategy either vary their diet between a grazing (bulk roughage feeders) or browsing (concentrate selectors) strategy on a seasonal basis or select a mixed diet at any one time. The underlying ecological causes of the seasonal dietary shift in a small non-ruminant intermediate feeder - the mountain or arctic hare (Lepus timidus L.) were determined. Diet composition and selection relative to availability were investigated for 41 individual free-ranging mountain hares (of which 18 female hares were radio-collared) occupying an upland mosaic landscape in north-east Scotland. Diet composition was determined using faecal n-alkane analysis. Radio-collared hares were designated as pasture, woodland or moorland hares according to the habitat that predominated their home-range. In common with previous studies, mountain hares switched from a browse-dominated diet during winter to a Gramineae-dominated diet in summer, although it was only significant for reproductively active females during the peak breeding season. Diet composition remained consistent regardless of habitat occupied. However, the diet of radio-tracked hares differed significantly from the biomass available in the individual home-ranges; Gramineae were preferentially selected over browse species throughout the year. During winter and in particular during the early breeding season, intermediate feeders, such as mountain hares, ate browse material when the availability of higher quality was restricted. The ability to browse or graze represents a flexible foraging strategy permitting survival and production through periods of changing or unpredictable forage quality and availability.