The European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) typically resides in open habitats in agriculturally dominated landscapes in Europe. Over recent decades, a widely observed population decline occurred, which was attributed to agricultural intensification. However, with political incentives for specific crops, especially maize for energy production, the habitat went through massive changes. Thus, there is the need to identify parameters that characterize a suitable habitat for the brown hare in today’s agricultural lands. We modelled European brown hare densities spatially and temporally explicit over 10 years (2005–2014) across an entire federal state. The generalized additive mixed model confirms a constant decline of the European brown hare population in Lower Saxony. Municipalities with a high proportion of grassland and precipitation totaling up to 900 mm are more favored. Woodland showed an approximately linear negative effect. The most important agricultural crop groups such as winter grains and winter oilseed rape showed overall positive effects on hare densities. However, the effect of maize was unimodal, with a positive effect of medium proportions, but a negative effect of very high proportions. The effect of sugar beet was relatively weak but negative. Brown hares were also more abundant in municipalities with a higher density of vixen with litter and municipalities with a high proportion of wildflower strips showed higher brown hare abundance. Lower Saxony is a diverse federal state with grassland dominated areas in the northwest, more woodland in the east, but intensive arable land in most remaining areas. The European brown hare—a species with a wide ecological potency—shows preferences to both grassland and the most typical arable crop groups such as winter grains and winter oilseed rape. The substantial increase in maize production within the time frame was likely unfavourable and may be one reason for the decline. Nonetheless, political tools such as the agri-environmental scheme “wildflower strips” were beneficial for the brown hare abundance and may be an option to reverse the decline seen over the 10 years.

中文翻译：

---

在一个集约化农业区（德国下萨克森州）中的欧洲褐兔（Lepus europaeus P allas 1778）的栖息地要求

欧洲褐兔（Lepus europaeus）通常居住在欧洲以农业为主的景观中的开放栖息地中。在最近几十年中，由于农业集约化，引起了广泛观察到的人口下降。但是，由于对特定作物特别是玉米在生产能源方面的政治动机，栖息地经历了巨大的变化。因此，需要确定表征适合当今农业用地中的褐兔的栖息地的参数。我们在整个联邦州的10年（2005-2014年）中，对欧洲棕色兔子密度的时空分布进行了建模。广义添加剂混合模型证实了下萨克森州欧洲褐兔种群数量的持续减少。草原比例高且降水量总计达900毫米的城市更受青睐。林地显示出近似线性的负面影响。最重要的农作物类别，例如冬季谷物和冬季油菜显示出对兔子密度的总体积极影响。但是，玉米的影响是单峰的，中等比例的正效应，而很高比例的负效应。甜菜的作用相对较弱，但却是负面的。在含废弃物较多的泼妇密度较高的城市中，棕兔也更为丰富，而野花条比例较高的城市则显示出较高的棕兔丰度。下萨克森州是一个多元化的联邦州，西北部是草原为主的地区，东部是更多的林地，但其余大部分地区都有密集的耕地。欧洲褐兔（一种具有广泛生态潜力的物种）显示出对草原和冬季谷物和冬季油菜等最典型的耕作作物群体的偏爱。在此期限内玉米产量的大量增加可能是不利的，并且可能是产量下降的原因之一。但是，诸如农业环境计划“野花条”之类的政治工具对于棕兔的丰度是有益的，并且可能是扭转十年来下降趋势的一种选择。在此期限内玉米产量的大量增加可能是不利的，并且可能是产量下降的原因之一。但是，诸如农业环境计划“野花条”之类的政治工具对于棕兔的丰度是有益的，并且可能是扭转十年来下降趋势的一种选择。在此期限内玉米产量的大量增加可能是不利的，并且可能是产量下降的原因之一。但是，诸如农业环境计划“野花条”之类的政治工具对于棕兔的丰度是有益的，并且可能是扭转十年来下降趋势的一种选择。