Answer to Question #246222 in Ecology for Liana

Question

Two different islands on the Swedish west coast have different dense populations of hares. What could be the reasons for this?

Answer 1

The difference in hare density populations is mainly due to predation. The main hare predator is the red fox which is only present during short periods.Another predator is the eagle owl. When a red fox is present there is a decline in hare numbers. Predation is more in summer than in winter. The fox is also able to keep switching positions between islands to mainland from summer to winter thus keeping hare number fluctuations across the islands.