Snowshoe hare optimal foraging and its implications for population dynamics

The results of an optimal foraging model using linear programming with constraints for feeding time, digestive capacity, sodium requirements, and energy requirements indicate that snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) may forage as energy maximizers. The solution provides the quantities of major food classes (leaves, herbs, fungus, twigs) included in the diet. The species composition of each diet class also is determined using a simultaneous search model based upon the probability of encounter, the probability of sufficient item size, and the probability of sufficient quality. The results also indicate that hare life history parameters (weaning size, size at first reproduction, average adult size) and potential demographic changes in hare populations may be controlled by foraging considerations.