Abstract
The greatest threat to the protected Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Central Europe is human‐induced mortality. As the availability of lynx prey often peaks in human‐modified areas, lynx have to balance successful prey hunting with the risk of encounters with humans. We hypothesized that lynx minimize this risk by adjusting habitat choices to the phases of the day and over seasons. We predicted that (1) due to avoidance of human‐dominated areas during daytime, lynx range use is higher at nighttime, that (2) prey availability drives lynx habitat selection at night, whereas high cover, terrain inaccessibility, and distance to human infrastructure drive habitat selection during the day, and that (3) habitat selection also differs between seasons, with altitude being a dominant factor in winter. To test these hypotheses, we analyzed telemetry data (GPS, VHF) of 10 lynx in the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem (Germany, Czech Republic) between 2005 and 2013 using generalized additive mixed models and considering various predictor variables. Night ranges exceeded day ranges by more than 10%. At night, lynx selected open habitats, such as meadows, which are associated with high ungulate abundance. By contrast, during the day, lynx selected habitats offering dense understorey cover and rugged terrain away from human infrastructure. In summer, land‐cover type greatly shaped lynx habitats, whereas in winter, lynx selected lower altitudes. We concluded that open habitats need to be considered for more realistic habitat models and contribute to future management and conservation (habitat suitability, carrying capacity) of Eurasian lynx in Central Europe.
Highlights
Large carnivores are positioned at the top of food webs (Linnell, Salvatori, & Boitani, 2008), which implies naturally low population numbers, high metabolic rates, and great spatial requirements (Ripple et al, 2014)
We investigated the habitat choice of Eurasian lynx in a human-altered landscape during the day and at night
A bias may have been introduced into our results of habitat selection, as we could only use about two-thirds of all lynx telemetry locations and as environmental and anthropogenic variables might differ between national parks and less-protected lands in the surroundings (Heurich et al, 2015)
Summary
Large carnivores are positioned at the top of food webs (Linnell, Salvatori, & Boitani, 2008), which implies naturally low population numbers, high metabolic rates, and great spatial requirements (Ripple et al, 2014). Humans pose the greatest threat to the local population of Eurasian lynx in the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem, a protected landscape comprised of the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany and the Šumava National Park in the Czech Republic Both inspections of lynx found dead and opinion surveys of local hunters underline that, apart from occasional collisions with vehicles, poaching represents the main cause of lynx mortality in the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem (Červený, Koubek, & Bufka, 2002; Wölfl et al, 2001) which is indicated by modeling approaches (Müller et al, 2014; Magg et al, 2015; Heurich et al, unpublished data). We anticipate that results of this study in conjunction with findings from previous research activities in the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem conducted on different spatial scales (Belotti et al, 2012, 2013; Magg et al, 2015) and with recent studies on other lynx populations (Gehr et al, in press) will contribute to successful management and conservation of Eurasian lynx in the study area and beyond
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