Scottish mountain hares do not respond behaviorally to camouflage mismatch

Abstract

Climate change has resulted in a myriad of stressors to wild organisms. Phenotypic plasticity, including behavioral plasticity, is hypothesized to play a key role in allowing animals to cope with rapid climate change and mitigate its negative fitness consequences. Camouflage mismatch resulting from decreasing duration of snow cover presents a stressor to species that undergo coat color molts to maintain camouflage against seasonally changing backgrounds. Winter white animals appear highly conspicuous against dark, snowless background and experience increased predation-induced mortality. Here, we evaluate the potential of behavioral plasticity to buffer against camouflage mismatch in mountain hares Lepus timidus in Scotland. We carried out field surveys in three populations over two years and found no evidence that hares modify their behaviors in response to increasing camouflage mismatch. Hares did not prefer to rest closer to light-colored rocks or farther from conspecifics with increasing color contrast. Furthermore, whiter hares did not seek to rest closer to snowy backgrounds; rather, hares preferred to sit farther from snow. These results suggest that behavioral plasticity might not be a universal, rapid mechanism facilitating adaptation to climate change.