Hare Today… Gone Tomorrow: A Methodology for Mapping White-Tailed Jackrabbit Distribution in Edmonton

Abstract

The White-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii), is native to the open grasslands throughout the interior of North America, yet it has become a common sight in urban settings. Assessed every other year since 1992, data on the approximate locations of White-tailed Jackrabbits (WTJs) in the City of Edmonton have been collected and analysed by various students of The King’s University. This data was used to estimate population densities and study the synurbization of this species as the city expands into former agricultural lands. These data were collected in five land use categories: established residential neighbourhoods, parks, industrial, recent residential developments, and rural areas. A transect-based methodology developed for bird census has been tested to determine whether the distribution of WTJs are clustered or randomly distributed. This poster highlights the challenges associated with synthesising this valuable data set, and proposes a methodology utilizing ArcGIS to map the distribution of WTJs in the City of Edmonton. It provides a digital basis for adding future data and extending the ongoing spatial analysis.

*Indicates faculty mentor.