Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx)

Abstract

In Europe, the gray wolf and Eurasian lynx populations are recovering after various levels of persecution. The two species differ in their social structure and spatial patterns of aggregation. Using model selection, we investigated the consistency of the available time series data on local wolf and lynx sub-populations with a number of single-species population growth models that pertain to two types of intraspecific competition, namely, scramble (SC) and contest competition (CC), and reflect random (R) or aggregated (A) distribution of individuals. The applied models of population growth—the Ricker (SCR), Skellam (CCR), Hassell (SCA), and Beverton–Holt (CCA) models—were all parameterized in terms of intrinsic growth rate and carrying capacity with unified definitions. The projected carrying capacity was allowed to show a temporal trend, which was justified by an observed increase in prey abundance in recent decades. For both species, the models pertaining to contest competition outperformed the scramble competition models, and the Beverton–Holt model had the greatest weight. However, for the lynx, the difference of performance between the scramble and contest competition models was considerably smaller than that for the wolves. In most of the models, when it was meaningful, an optional time lag operator was added to account for a delay in individual maturity and reproduction. However, the models with a time lag had a worse fit than the models without it. This study promotes the application of population models that reflect intraspecific competition for modeling population dynamics in a single- or multi-species framework.

Context
Behavioral adjustments by large carnivores can be a key factor facilitating their coexistence with people in shared landscapes. Landscape composition might be a key factor determining how large carnivores can adapt to occurring alongside humans, yet broad-scale analyses investigating adjustments of habitat
use across large gradients of human pressure and landscape composition are lacking.
Objectives
Here, we investigate adjustments in habitat use by Eurasian lynx (
Lynx lynx) in response to varying availability of refuge habitats (i.e., forests and rugged terrain) and human landscape modication.
Methods
We used a large tracking dataset including 434 individuals from seven populations to analyze variation in lynx’ use of refuge habitats and landscape modication at a continental scale.
Results
We found that lynx use refuge habitats more intensively with increasing landscape modication, selecting forests most strongly in otherwise open landscapes and rugged terrain in mountainous regions. Higher forest availability enabled lynx to place their home ranges in more human-modied landscapes. Human pressure and refuge habitat availability also shaped temporal patterns of lynx habitat use, affecting daytime-nighttime differences in refuge habitat use, as well as females’ association with human-modied habitats during the rst months after kittens are born.
Conclusions
Our ndings suggest a remarkable adaptive capacity of lynx towards human pressure and underline the importance of refuge habitats for enabling coexistence between large carnivores and people. More broadly, we highlight that the composition of landscapes determines how large carnivores can adapt to human pressure, and that both factors interact in shaping large carnivore habitat use and distributions at broad scales