Landscape Analysis of Bobcat Habitat in the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan

Abstract

Controversy over bobcat (Lynx rufus) management in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan (NLP), USA, stimulated a need for information on the distribution of Michigan bobcats. From March 2003 to October 2004, we conducted a radiotelemetry and scentstation survey study of bobcats in the NLP. We developed a spatial model to predict bobcat distribution throughout the NLP based on bobcat area requirements, habitat and landscape variables derived from remotely sensed land‐cover data, and a multivariate distance statistic. Bobcat 50% minimum convex polygon core areas were comprised of more lowland forest (51%), nonforested wetlands (9%), and streams (3%) than the surrounding NLP. The NLP was comprised primarily of upland forest (44%) and field (32%). Habitat in the northeast and central regions of the NLP was most similar to the habitat composition of bobcat core areas. This model will be useful in aiding Michigan wildlife management agencies with assessing the status and distribution of the NLP bobcat population by identifying areas important to bobcats and supporting the development of regional strategies for carnivore conservation.

Habitat modeling used to predict relative abundance of bobcats in Iowa

“…Nearly all studies of bobcat habitat relationships have concluded that bobcat presence and abundance is influenced by the distribution and characteristics of forested habitat (Woolf et al 2002, Preuss and Gehring 2007), especially at the local scale (Lovallo et al 2001, Constible et al 2006, Tucker et al 2008). However, our analyses and modeling highlight that the quantity and configuration of other habitats, especially perennial grassland cover in association with woodlands, predicted relative abundance of Iowa bobcats at the county scale.…”

“…Given the various habitat factors that have been identified from region to region (Larivière and Walton 1997, Anderson and Lovallo 2003), development of region‐specific habitat models has been a goal of bobcat conservation and management (Bluett et al 2001). Many habitat models have been built based on data collected in landscapes that were primarily forested (e.g., Maine, Litvaitis et al 1986; Wisconsin, Lovallo and Anderson 1996; Mississippi, Constible et al 2006; Michigan, Preuss and Gehring 2007). On a statewide basis, the landscape of Illinois where Woolf et al (2002) developed a bobcat habitat model is most similar to Iowa.…”

“…On a statewide basis, the landscape of Illinois where Woolf et al (2002) developed a bobcat habitat model is most similar to Iowa. Models have been developed from data summarized at various spatial resolutions, including 5‐m grid cells (Roberts et al 2010), home ranges (Nielsen and Woolf 2002, Constible et al 2006, Preuss and Gehring 2007), townships (Litvaitis et al 2006), and counties (Woolf et al 2002). At the larger scales above that of individuals, often the response variable is presence–absence in a unit based on reports of sightings and road kills (Kautz et al 2001, Woolf et al 2002) although relative abundance is sometimes the modeled response.…”

Carnivore space use shifts in response to seasonal resource availability

“…We considered distance to roads in all periods for each species because roads influence carnivore space use and resource selection (Roy and Dorrance 1985, Hellgren et al 1991, Lovallo and Anderson 1996, Wydeven et al 2001. We examined the effect of land cover edges on carnivore resource acquisition (Ries et al 2004, Preuss andGehring 2007) by including distance to land cover edge in all periods for all carnivores. We considered distance to grassland or pasture in black bear models for all periods because grasses are an important food source for black bears when other food sources are lacking, particularly in spring (Pelton 2003).…”

Space Use and Habitat Selection by Bobcats in the Fragmented Landscape of South‐Central Iowa

“…Preferred bobcat habitats such as forest (Hall and Newsom 1976, Rucker et al 1989, Lovallo and Anderson 1996, Nielsen 2000 and grassland (Kamler and Gipson 2000) occur in a fragmented mosaic of patches and corridors in Iowa (Kane et al 2002) that may affect bobcats by limiting their movements, altering home range boundaries, and modifying habitat selection patterns (Sunquist and Sunquist 2001). Previous studies of bobcat habitat selection have been conducted in areas such as Wisconsin (Lovallo and Anderson 1996), Michigan (Preuss and Gehring 2007), and Mississippi (Chamberlain et al 2003), USA, where large, continuous areas of forest are widespread, although Kamler and Gipson (2000) showed that bobcats selected grassland over forest in Kansas, USA. In recent decades the enrollment of land into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) may have led to increases in the amount of potential habitat available to bobcats and their prey, so it is reasonable to suggest that CRP lands could be important to the population ecology of bobcats in Midwestern landscapes.…”