1.

) Zach Andrews

10 December 2014
Zach Andrews
University of Idaho: Department of Fish and Wildlife
University of Idaho: College of Natural Resources
andr5655@vandals.uidaho.edu
RH: Andrews

Influence of Coyotes on the Great Basin Black-Tailed Jackrabbits

INFLUENCE OF COYOTES ON THE GREAT BASIN BLACK-TAILED JACKRABBIT

POPULATIONS AND WHETHER OR NOT MANAGENT ACTIONS MUST BE TAKEN
Zach Andrews, Student of the department of Fish and Wildlife, College of Natural Resources,
University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83843, USA
ABSTRACT
With the help and data collected from the Ecological Archives study on coyotes (Canis
latrans) and black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus), I was able to test the predator-prey
relation between coyotes and jackrabbits by creating the frequency plots of the estimated
populations. To create the frequency plots I used the given estimated population data from
Rebecca et. al (2005) and then used excel to graph the population growth rate of the coyotes and
jackrabbit populations. The population of coyotes and jackrabbits did not show the normal
predator-prey relationship that we see within the Lotka-Volterra model, this could be due to
hunting of coyotes or could be due to the differing transects strategies and variables that came
about during the study.
KEY WORDS
Coyote, canis latrans, black-tailed jackrabbit, lepus californicus, predator-prey relation,
frequency plots, excel, population growth rate, lotka-volterra, transects strategies.
Predator-prey relations are frequently studied among wildlife biologists in hopes to better
understand how a community of different species interacts with each other. Predator-prey

2.) Zach Andrews

relations are constantly studied and restudied because they vary widely across different
environments and vary with different species. The main focus on this study is to observe the
relationship between the coyote and one of its primary food sources the black-tailed jackrabbit
(Lepus californicus). The concern of this study is to see if the jackrabbit population is directly
related to the coyote population. The study will also look into seeing if the coyote population is
growing too large to be supported by their environment and if any management actions need to
be in placed to reduce the coyote population. Coyotes are meso-predators and are great in
adapting to urban environments, if the great basin populations are becoming overpopulated with
coyotes it is likely that the coyotes will move to a better, less competitive environment like a
nearby town or city where they can thrive. If we can understand the how large the population of
coyotes are and if can estimate there growth rate we can help prevent the population from
encroaching on the nearby urban environments and to prevent any conflicts from arising.
STUDY AREA
The two study areas that were used to gather the data include the Curlew Valley, Utah as
well as the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), Idaho USA in
1962 up until 1993. Curlew Valley is located in northern Utah above the salt flats and State
Highway 30. This environment is typical northern desert climate (Bailey 1998 as seen in Bartel
et al. 2005) that is comprised of large amounts short low lying sage brush among a variety of
other small scattered shrubs.

The INEEL site located contains parts of Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Clark, and
Jefferson Counties Idaho. It is northwest of Idaho Falls, Idaho near the Snake River plain. This

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site contains many low lying shrubs, such as sage brush and juniper trees as well as many other
flora that surrounds the Snake River plain which can be found at http://www.gsseser.com/.
METHODS
To gather the data on the black-tailed jackrabbits between both sites the same method was
used. To determine the abundance of rabbits a series of 1.6km square flushing transects were set
near dirt roads and trails that had been randomly selected. A steel pole was placed at the
beginning and end of each transect to define where the starting and ending of observations can be
made. The observations were made starting in the spring of 1962 and continued to 1993.
Observations were made each spring and fall of each year once between 0900 hours (9:00 am) to
1600 hours (4:00 pm). The right angle distance from the transect to the flushing point where the
rabbit was observed would be used to determine the frequency of distribution using program
TRANSECT. However, in 1988 transects conducted on horseback provided a much larger
frequency for spotting rabbits (Wywialowski and Stoddart 1988). The density estimates from the
walked transects were considered indices, which would change the scale of the experiment, but
not the pattern

To determine the abundance of coyotes within the study site 4 different observation
strategies were put in place to determine the abundance of coyotes. For the purpose of
consistency we will use one of these strategies that were used throughout the study period. This
consistent observation method was to observe the deposition rate of coyote scat upon the same
selected dirt roads and trails previously used for the rabbits. In the Curlew Valley coyote scat was
obtained from a 40-mile route of dirt roads and trails, but was later changed in 1976 to a series of
23 1.6km (1-mile) permanent transects. For the collection of the scat each transect was walked

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and cleared of all coyote scat detected. Two to four weeks later the transects would be walked
again and cleared of all coyote scat. The deposition rate index of coyote abundance was
calculated for each sampling period by number of scats deposited per mile per day. The INEEL
site had a similar strategy used to collect scat, where 100 scat transects were used each
September from 1976 to 1984 and in 1985 the number of transects were reduced to 25 in the
northeast portion of the site.
Once the field data was gathered we can now use it to test our hypothesis. From the data
gathered from 1962-1993 we can figure out what the abundance of the jack rabbit and the coyote
populations were from year to year by plugging the data into Microsoft excel. First we separated
the data obtained from Rebecca et al. (2005) into two time frames, Fall and Spring. Once the data
was separated in excel we could then graph the already estimated population from Rebecca et al.
(2005) to observe the population growth rates of coyotes and jackrabbits in both the Curlew
Valley and INEEL study sites. The observed growth rates of both sites would be separated into
spring and fall to help eliminate the difference in density of both species. With the data graphed
out we could then easily compare the populations of each study site and determine whether
management actions should be taken or whether we should leave the population to continue in its
equilibrium.
RESULTS
The classic Lotka-Volterra model (Fig. 5) shows a direct correlation between predator and
prey population size, granted the predator population is slightly delayed due to its dependence on
the prey population. This can be seen in the population models of both the Curlew Valley (Fig. 1
and Fig. 2) and INEEL (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4) study sites at both the spring and fall time frames;

5.) Zach Andrews

however the models show that some other variables must be in effect because the population
trend between both species populations are not as correlated as the Lotka-Voltera model.(Fig. 5).
DISCUSSION
I half expected the results to mimic the Lotka-Volterra model, although it is not so
surprising that the data didnt match the classic Lotka-Volterra model. A lot of variables were not
considered before the study by Rebecca et. al (2005) was conducted and the study had to adapt to
obtain better results. For example when the observations were being conducted they had a
141% higher estimate conducted when on horseback (Wywialowski and Stoddart 1998). It is
also important to note that the black-tailed jackrabbit is not the only food source for the coyote.
There are two other lagomorphs species, the mountain cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttalli) and the
pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), as well as a wide variety of rodents too. Observations
were made for all of these species, however the data collected on the abundance of these other
species were drastically smaller than the black-tailed jackrabbit and I did not involve their
numbers because they would have shown little to no impact in correlation to the coyote
population.
All variables aside the data collected shows that the jack rabbit population had major
population fluctuations in both study area regardless of the time of year. However, as you can see
in Figure 1, 2 and 3 the coyote population had only a small population increase, but in Figure 4
the INEEL fall population had a large increase in its population. This doesnt make a whole lot of
sense, since the spring INEEL population was drastically smaller over the years. The only
explanation that would explain this drastic increase would be the immigration of coyotes from
the surrounding areas to the INEEL population in the fall. Due to the immigration of coyotes in
the fall the population of the INEEL jack rabbits is decimated and this takes its toll on the local

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coyote population as seen in Figure 3. The Curlew Valley population of jack rabbits fluctuates
every ten years or so and the coyote population fluctuates in turn as well, although the coyote
population never goes over 30 member. The Curlew Valley population seems to be at its
equilibrium where the coyote population has the jack rabbit population under control without
either population dying out or reaching extraneous numbers.
With the Curlew Valley seeming like it is at equilibrium I believe that no management
actions are in order to maintain either population, although the INEEL population may need
some attention. It is not certain that the INEEL population has a problem with immigration of
other coyotes, but the data seems to point in that direction. I believe another study should be
conducted solely on coyote population of the INEEL area and any surrounding populations of
coyotes. The study should monitor the movement of the coyotes to see if they are moving to
other areas and increasing the predation of black tailed jackrabbits within the INEEL area. If so, I
would suggest that an increased hunting quota be placed on the coyote population near the
INEEL study area to limit the amount of coyotes within the area in hopes to decrease the
immigration of coyotes to the INEEL study site.
LITERATURE CITED
Bailey, R. G. 1998. Ecoregions: the ecosystem geography of the oceans and continents. SpringerVerlag, New York, New York, USA.
Bartel et al. 2005. Mammal abundance indices in the northern portion of the great basin, 19621993. Ecology 86:3130
Burnham, K. P., D. R. Anderson, and J.L. Laake. 1980. Estimation of density from line transect
sampling of biological populations. Wildlife Monographs 72:1-202
Clark, F. W. 1972. The influence of jackrabbit density on coyote population change. Journal of
Wildlife Management 36: 343-356.
Clark, W. R., 1979. Population limitation of jackrabbits: an examination of the food hypothesis.
Dissertation, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA.

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Gross, J. W., L.C. Stoddart, and F.H. Wagner. 1974. Demographic analysis of a northern Utah
jackrabbit population. Wildlife Monographs No. 40: 1-68
Mills, L. S. and F.F. Knowlton. 1991. Coyote space use in relation to prey abundance. Canadian
Journal of Zoology 69:1516-1521
Rebecca A. Bartel, Frederick F. Knowlton, and L. Charles Stoddart. 2005. Mammal abundance
indices in the northern portion of the Great Basin, 19621993. Ecology 86:3130
Wikipedia. 2014. Frequency plot of the Lotka-Volterra model.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotka
%E2%80%93Volterra_equation#mediaviewer/File:Volterra_lotka_dynamics.PNG
Wywialowski, A. P., and L. C. Stoddart. 1988. Estimation of jack rabbit density: methodology
makes a difference. Journal of Wildlife Management 52:57-59

8.) Zach Andrews

120
100
80
Lepus

60

Canis

40
20
0
1963

1968

1973

1978

1983

1988

1993

Fig. 1) Curlew Valley estimated spring population of Canis latrans and Lepus californicus from
1963-1993.

Curlew Valley Fall Population

160
140
120
100

Lepus

Canis

80
60
40
20
0
1962

1967

1972

1977

1982

1987

1992

Fig. 2) Curlew Valley estimated fall population of Canis latrans and Lepus californicus from
1962-1993.

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450
400
350
300
250
Canis
200

Lepus

150
100
50
0
1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

Fig. 3) Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) estimated spring
population of Canis latrans and Lepus californicus from 1975-1993.
160
140
120
100
Canis

80

Lepus
60
40
20
0
1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

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Fig. 4) Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) estimated fall
population of Canis latrans and Lepus californicus from 1975-1993.

Fig. 5) Classic example of the Lotka-Volterra Model. (Wikipedia. 2014.)