In the Scottish Highlands, there is a conflict of interest between land managers grazing domestic livestock (such as hill sheep, Highland cattle, and Shetland ponies) and conservationists protecting the native mountain hare (Lepus timidus), a species of conservation concern.
When livestock are given supplementary winter feed, their populations can remain artificially high and outcompete the mountain hares.
Name the type of competition that occurs between domestic livestock and wild mountain hares.
Livestock will outcompete mountain hares if they:
Scientists investigated this conflict of interests. Table 1 summarizes some of their findings.
Table 1
| Type of livestock | Difference between livestock diet and mountain hare diet* | Difference between livestock preferred habitat and mountain hare habitat* |
|---|---|---|
| Hill sheep | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Highland cattle | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Shetland pony | 0.0 | 2.6 |
* A score of 0.0 indicates that the diet or habitat preference is identical.
There must be a balance between the need for conservation of the mountain hare and the economic needs of local land managers.
Using all the information provided, suggest and explain three actions that the managers could take to achieve this balance.
11 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Biology Populations in ecosystems (A-level only). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.