Northern Ireland Irish hare Survey 2010

 

Project code 

QU10-01

Contact

Dr. Neil Reid

Project staff

Alan Harrison & A.N.Other

Supervisors

Prof Ian Montgomery

Funding

NIEA

Client Officer

Michael Meharg

Start date

01/12/2009

End date

31/08/2010

The Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus Bell, 1837) is the only native lagomorph in Ireland and is currently classified as an endemic sub-species of the mountain hare (L. timidus Linnaeus, 1758).

It attracted major conservation concern following a population decline during the late 20th century. It currently has two Species Action Plans one for Northern Ireland and another covering All-Ireland. It is one of the highest priority species for conservation action in Northern Ireland.

The Species Action Plan (SAP) requires population monitoring and surveillance of the hare population throughout its range. Surveys have been conducted annually since 2002 to 2009 (excluding 2003), however, field methodology differed between early (2002-2004) and late (2005-2009) surveys.
 
This project aims to repeat the standard survey methodology during 2010 and using data from all years (including a custom Distance-analysis model developed by RUWPA, University of St. Andrews similar to that depolyed during 2007) to retrospectively reanalysis all available data standardising the models employed making each year of the time-series as comparable and reliable as possible. This information is essential if the Irish hare SAP targets are to be evaluated during late 2010.

This project is funded by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) under the Natural Heritage Research Partnership (NHRP) and generally aims to:  

  1. Provide an estimate of the Irish hare population in Northern Ireland that is comparable from 2002-2010  
  2. Assess relative change in hare populations in Northern Ireland