Volume 191, November 2015, Pages 291–299
Eurasian lynx habitat selection in human-modified landscape in Norway: Effects of different human habitat modifications and behavioral states
Highlights
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- We model lynx habitat selection in relation with human-modified habitat and behaviors.
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- Habitat selection is different between behaviors and levels of habitat modifications.
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- Lynx select for areas of medium levels of human modification.
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- Lynx avoid very low and very high modified areas.
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- The results are promising in the context of lynx return to continental Europe.
Abstract
Eurasian
lynx are often regarded as being particularly sensitive to human
land-use. However, in the European context where human influence is
pervasive, the conservation of lynx requires that they be integrated
into the human-dominated landscape. Although previous studies have
looked at how lynx respond to human land-use in a broad sense, they have
failed to examine the details of how different types of human induced
impacts (forest fragmentation, human density, different types of
transport infrastructure) influence distinct lynx behaviors.
Furthermore, they have not examined the extent to which lynx modify
their fine scaled avoidance behavior of anthropogenic landscape features
according to the specific behaviors (resting sites, kill sites,
movement) in which they are engaged and how these relationships are
modified by prey density or the sex of the lynx. We used Resource
Selection Functions to examine how 19 GPS-marked lynx in southeastern
Norway responded to an index of cumulative human habitat modification
while engaged in different activities. We found that lynx select for
areas with medium levels of human modification, avoiding both the very
highly modified and the areas with low degrees of modification. Females
in general appear to be less tolerant of human modification than males,
especially when it comes to resting sites. Terrain (ruggedness and
elevation) appears to be important in permitting lynx to exploit heavily
modified areas. Our study demonstrates that lynx show a nuanced
response to human habitat modification, which offers hope for their
conservation in Europe.
Keywords
- Eurasian lynx;
- Anthropogenic disturbance;
- Habitat selection
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