Dr. Liesl Erb Researches Threatened Appalachian Cottontail
Alex Ardagna | October 21, 2021
Special to The Echo | Cordie Diggins
Field technician, Jaime Neil, releasing an Appalachian Cottontail.
Appalachian cottontails are on the decline. Liesl Erb, Ph.D., professor of conservation biology at Warren Wilson College (WWC), has taken a special interest in ensuring the conservation of Appalachian cottontails.
The species population is facing various threats, such as indirect displacement by eastern cottontails, habitat fragmentation, hunting, and most importantly, a lack of knowledge in the scientific community about the species. Further research is needed to help prevent Appalachian cottontails from possibly disappearing completely.
The threats that face the Appalachian cottontail are vast, yet there are still many aspects about the species that are unknown. Research that looks at habitat preferences, species distribution and the fragmentation effects on population genetics would allow scientists to gain knowledge on how the species is currently doing.
“My personal motivations for conserving Appalachian cottontails are on a few fronts. First of all, I feel strongly that all species on our planet have intrinsic value and have a right to exist,” said Erb. “Most species that are declining in the 21st century are doing so because of human actions, and I feel that I have an obligation to help combat some of those negative impacts through my life's work.”
A grant funded researchers Joseph J. Apodaca, Corinne A. Diggins and Erb in a two-year research project investigating the habitat preferences, distributions and genetic structure of the Appalachian cottontail population in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina.
The researchers employed a variety of research methods, including finding habitat selection through analyzing scat samples and telemetry data (on location), which is transmitted by radio collars attached to individual Appalachian cottontails. The overall results from this study were to provide information to the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission’s management of Appalachian Cottontails.
Their results showed that Appalachian cottontails prefer to occupy habitats within their home range and surrounding land. In high elevation sites, Appalachian cottontails tend to use heath balds, a name for mountain summits or crests covered primarily by thick vegetation of native grasses or shrubs. Even though vegetation found in heath balds is usually not a part of Appalachian cottontail diets, they do provide cover for the cottontails, which may lead to protection from predation. Since the majority of the tracking occurred during the cold season, it is possible that the use of heath balds were helpful in ensuring the survival of Appalachian cottontails by providing them with a thermal habitat. In low elevation sites, hemlock and pine forests served as habitats for the species.
The most important part about this research is that it shows the struggle that Appalachian cottontails face and the lack of scientific knowledge on the species as a whole. More research is needed to determine exactly what can be done to prevent the species from possibly going extinct.
“As an ecologist, I am very aware of the importance of species like rabbits to the ecosystems they are in,” said Erb. “They go under-appreciated because they are so common and not as charismatic as larger or more colorful animals. But rabbits are food for many species higher up the food chain, and their populations hugely affect the carnivores that eat them and the plants they consume.”
