Abstract

Natal dispersal affects the gene flow, distribution, dynamics and social structure of a population. In many solitary mammals, dispersal is often male-biased, while females may remain philopatric. For the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), dispersal distances vary greatly and may be explained by sex or by habitat characteristics, such as fragmentation. Juvenile lynx habitat selection during dispersal has not been studied before, but resident lynx select heterogeneous forested habitats and avoid human settlements and infrastructure through distinct temporal activity patterns. We studied movement patterns and habitat selection during the dispersal of 22 Eurasian lynx (7 females, 15 males) in Finland. We found no differences between the sexes in the onset age, duration, distance, route or route linearity. Dispersal took place mostly during the evening and at night but also during the day. Of the four most used habitats, the mixed forests and transitional woodlands were used more frequently than would be expected according to their availability, and conifer forests and fields less than would be expected. Housing and other human infrastructure, including roads, were the least frequently used categories. There was a highly significant difference between the used and available habitats in general. The lynx selected the habitat more carefully during the day than during the night.

Highlights

  • Natal dispersal, which is the movement from a natal site to a breeding site, affects the gene flow within a population as well as the distribution, population dynamics and social structure (Bowler and Benton 2005)

  • In the Lynx genus, male-biased dispersal has been documented in bobcats (Lynx rufus) (Janečka et al 2006) but according to a molecular genetic study, not in Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), possibly because of its cyclic population dynamics (Campbell and Strobeck 2006; Breitenmoser et al 1993)

  • A male bias has been reported based on radio-telemetry studies of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Scandinavia (Samelius et al 2012) but not in Central Europe (Zimmermann et al 2005, 2007)

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Summary

Introduction

Natal dispersal, which is the movement from a natal site to a breeding site, affects the gene flow within a population as well as the distribution, population dynamics and social structure (Bowler and Benton 2005). In Central Europe, males dispersed 4.5–129 km, compared to 32–428 km in Scandinavia (Breitenmoser et al 1993; Schmidt 1998; Zimmermann et al 2005; Samelius et al 2012). Eurasian lynx females in Finland seem to form kin clusters (Holmala et al 2018), which are overlapping, genetically distinguishable structures suggesting at least partial philopatry

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