Thirteen species of plants were identified in fecal pellets of black-tailed hares collected from sagebrush and bitterbrush communities in southcentral Washington. Microscopic analysis of plant fragments indicated that yarrow was the most common food item in the diet, making up 25% of the overall diet. Other food items in decreasing order of importance were: turpentine cymopterus > hoary aster > needleandthread > and Jim Hill mustard. Preference indices indicated that needleandthread was the most preferred plant in the sagebrush community, while yarrow was the most preferred plant in the bitterbrush community. Although the communities were not similar in plant species frequency of occurrence and cover, the hare diets were quite similar in both communities, indicating that hares were actively seeking preferred foods. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.