DOI: 10.5061/dryad.b2rbnzsp7
title: Data from: Camera traps reveal seasonal variation in activity and occupancy of the Alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis)

description: Mountain hare is a cold-adapted species threatened by climate change, but
 despite its emblematic nature, our understanding of the causes of
 population decline remains limited. Camera traps are increasingly used in
 ecology as a tool for monitoring animal populations at large spatial and
 temporal scales. In mountain environments where field work is constrained
 by difficult access and harsh conditions, camera traps constitute a
 promising tool for surveying rare and elusive species such as the mountain
 hare. Our study explored the use of camera traps as a tool for studying
 seasonal habitat occupancy and daily activity patterns of the mountain
 hare, in order to carry out long-term monitoring of populations. We
 installed 46 camera traps along elevation gradients in the Mont-Blanc
 massif (France) from January 2018 to June 2022. We measured habitat
 variables at each camera trap site in order to define vegetation
 composition and habitat structure. We performed multi-season and
 single-season occupancy models to respectively describe habitat occupancy
 of the mountain hare throughout the year and identify the environmental
 variables influencing mountain hare presence during the breeding season.
 Mountain hares occupy coniferous forest in winter, and then switch to
 mixed areas of shrubland and grassland above treeline in spring and the
 beginning of summer. In spring, occupancy probability of the mountain hare
 increases with relative cover of mixed low shrub and herbaceous layer
 (i.e. the 10-40 cm vegetation layer), suggesting a link to food resources
 and protection from predation. Our results also confirm the nocturnal and
 crepuscular activity of the mountain hare during the breeding season, and
 strictly nocturnal activity in winter. Our results demonstrate the
 efficiency of camera traps as tools for monitoring mountain hare habitat
 occupancy in mountain environments and underline the importance of diverse
 habitat mosaics for the preservation of the species.
description: # Camera traps reveal seasonal variation in activity and occupancy of the
 Alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis)
 Pictures from 46 camera
 traps located along elevation gradients in the in the Mont-Blanc massif
 (France) have been used for this paper. Habitat variables at each camera
 trap site have also been measured in order to define vegetation
 composition and habitat structure. ## Description of the data and file
 structure Mountain hare contacts from camera traps are available in the
 "taghare_1day.csv" dataset. "Station" corresponds to
 the camera trap name, "Date" corresponds to the date at which a
 mountain hare has been contacted by the camera trap. Descriptions of
 camera traps are available in the "camerainfo.csv" dataset.
 "Station" corresponds to the camera trap name,
 "Exposition" corresponds to the orientation of the camera,
 "Elevation" corresponds at which elevation (in meters) was
 installed the camera, "Longitude" and "Latitude"
 indicate the coordinates of the camera, "Slope" indicates the
 slope of the ground where the camera has been installed,
 "Habitat" corresponds to the habitat surrounding the camera,
 "Model" corresponds to the model of the camera,
 "setup_date" corresponds to the date at which the camera was
 setup, "Problem[X]" corresponds to the cause of the problem
 during the period "Problem[X]*from" - "Problem[X]_to".
 Vegetation measurements around camera traps are available in the
 "out_plot.csv", "out_height.csv" and
 "out_contact.csv" datasets. In "out_plot. csv",
 "plot_project" correspond to the name of the camera where the
 measurements have been done, "date" corresponds to the date of
 measurements, "name_camera" corresponds to the name of the
 camera as given in the "camerainfo" dataset,
 "slope.class" indicates the class of slope where vegetation
 measurements have been done (1: &lt;10°, 2: 10-25°, 3: 25-40°, 4:
 &gt;40°), "elevation" corresponds to the elevation (in meters)
 of the location where vegetation measurements have been done,
 "orientation" corresponds to the orientation of the location
 where vegetation measurements have been done, "Latitude" and
 "Longitude" corresponds to the location where vegetation
 measurements have been done, "relief.homogeneity" indicates the
 homogeneity of the relief, "strata.0" gives the percentage of
 the cover of bare ground, "strata.1" gives the percentage of the
 cover of vegetation under 10 cm, "strata.2" gives the percentage
 of the cover of vegetation between 10 and 40 cm, "strata.3"
 gives the percentage of the cover of vegetation between 40cm and 1.30m,
 "strata.4" gives the percentage of the cover of vegetation
 between 1.30 and 4m, "strata.5" gives the percentage of the
 cover of vegetation over 4m (i.e. cover of the tree layer). Each
 "strata.[X]" column is described by a class of percentage of the
 corresponding vegetation cover. 0 corresponds to no vegetation of the
 corresponding strata, 1 corresponds to a cover less 10%, 2 corresponds to
 a cover between 10 and 25% , 3 corresponds to a cover between 25 and 50%,
 4 corresponds to a cover between 50 and 75% and 5 corresponds to a cover
 more than 75%. In "out_height.csv", "point_number"
 corresponds to the point number at which the "height" of the
 vegetation has been measured (in cm). In "out_contact.csv",
 "ref_fg" corresponds to the vegetation type and
 "nb_pin_touch" corresponds to the number of contact points for
 this vegetation type. F: ferns, HG: grass, HF: forbs, LRF: *Rhododendron
 ferrugineum*, LRH: *Rhododendron hirsutum*, LVM: *Vaccinium myrtillus*,
 LVU: *Vaccinium uliginosum*, LVVI: *Vaccinium vitis-idaea*, LJC:
 *Juniperus communis*, LCV: *Calluna vulgaris*, LEN: *Empetrum nigrum*,
 LKP: *Kalmia procumbens*, SS: small shrub, ST: tall shrub, TC: coniferous
 tree. ## Code/Software R 3.6.2 (R Development Core Team 2018) has been
 used to analyze the data. We used occupancy probability methods for
 unmarked animals as detailed by Gilbert (2020), and used the “unmarked”
 (Fiske and Chandler 2011) and “camtrapR” (Niedballa et al. 2016) packages
 to perform subsequent analyses.