e-obs Stories & Publications

@misc{tavernier_solar_2026,

title = {Solar fields provide diurnal habitat for European hares (Lepus europaeus) within the intensive agricultural landscape},

author = {Chlo\'{e} Tavernier and Minke R. Mulder and Martijn J. A. Weterings and Ralph Buij and Frank Langevelde and Rascha Nuijten},

url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=6021220},

doi = {10.2139/ssrn.6021220},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

urldate = {2026-02-17},

publisher = {Social Science Research Network},

address = {Rochester, NY},

abstract = {The increase in the number of solar fields in European landscapes could have a large effect on local wildlife, potentially affecting prey-predator relationships. However, common mammals are underrepresented in research on the impact of solar fields on mammal diversity. In this study, the spatial and temporal use of solar fields by European hares (Lepus europaeus) is explored in relation to predation pressure. We tracked 11 hares using GPS collars measuring location every two hours and accelerometers with a burst of data every two minutes at 10 Hz. Hares used solar fields as inactive habitat during daytime, irrespective of the season, while they consistently use farmland as active habitat during nighttime. They increased their use of solar fields when predation pressure increased within solar fields. Thus, it seems that solar fields can offer diurnal resting habitat with a reduction in perceived predation risk compared to the surrounding farmlands. It is yet to be explored whether this reduction of predation risk can increase the fitness of hares or if solar fields create an ecological trap in an already poor agricultural landscape matrix.},

keywords = {Hare, human conflict, human landscape, lepus, Predation pressure, social, solar farm, Solar fields, Space use},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {misc}

}