Population Genetics and Spatial Ecology of Bobcats (Lynx rufus) in a Landscape with a High Density of Humans in New England

Mayer, Amy; McGreevy, Thomas J.; Sullivan, Mary; Brown, Charles H.; Husband, Thomas P.; Gerber, Brian D.

doi:10.1656/045.028.0401

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…A possible contribution to our low detection probabilities may be the timing and duration of the surveys. Previous studies in the region have showed that young male bobcats have very large home ranges (Mayer et al, 2021), so while a camera may be placed within their home range, the extent of the animal's movements throughout their home range may preclude it from having the opportunity to pass by that camera within the 6‐week survey period. Additionally, males typically have larger home ranges and higher frequency of movements within their home range than females as a result of breeding and kitten‐rearing (Conner & Plowman, 1999; McNitt et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that the species is going through recent population growth following many years of being classified as rare (C. Brown, unpublished data), it is possible that low population densities are a contributing factor to low detection probabilities. An effective population size has been estimated at 82 with a 95% confidence interval of 44–329 (Mayer et al, 2021). Given the extent of our study area, 242,745 ha, this is an extremely low bobcat density.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Detections across seasons in this study (Figure S1) indicate that bobcat distribution is widespread. Forested wetlands, a natural landcover type that was found to be selected for by bobcats in a resource‐selection model in the region (Mayer et al, 2021), was positively associated with site occupancy and the probability of colonization of a new site. This is consistent with prior research showing forested areas, and forested wetlands in particular, are important habitats for bobcats (Broman et al, 2014; Donovan et al, 2011; Mayer et al, 2021; Reed et al, 2017), and that occupancy is positively influenced by forested areas (Wait et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forested wetlands, a natural landcover type that was found to be selected for by bobcats in a resource‐selection model in the region (Mayer et al, 2021), was positively associated with site occupancy and the probability of colonization of a new site. This is consistent with prior research showing forested areas, and forested wetlands in particular, are important habitats for bobcats (Broman et al, 2014; Donovan et al, 2011; Mayer et al, 2021; Reed et al, 2017), and that occupancy is positively influenced by forested areas (Wait et al, 2018). The average road density in our study area was 2.70 km/km 2 ( SD = 2.76), and when comparing occupancy probabilities only in areas with higher than average road densities, the probability of occupancy at equilibrium reduced to 0.44 ( SD = 0.29).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used the detection/non‐detection data from the camera survey to fit dynamic occupancy models to estimate site‐level initial occurrence (

ψ_{1}

), colonization (

γ

), extirpation (

ϵ

), and detection probabilities ( p ; MacKenzie et al, 2003). Based on habitat selection findings of bobcats in Rhode Island (Mayer et al, 2021), we selected a suite of landscape covariates that we hypothesized would affect each model parameter (Table 2). Covariates fell within two general categories: natural and anthropogenic features.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transient persistence of bobcat (Lynx rufus) occurrence throughout a human‐dominated landscape

et al. 2022

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Human developments have detrimental effects on wildlife populations globally with carnivores being particularly sensitive. The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is often considered an adaptable mesocarnivore that occurs throughout varied landcover types within its wide distribution and may be less susceptible to the negative effects of development. Our objectives were to investigate the landscape occupancy dynamics of bobcats in a highly developed and densely populated region of the northeastern United States to evaluate the sensitivity of bobcat occurrence to natural and anthropogenic landscape features. We established a large‐scale camera trapping survey throughout Rhode Island, USA, sampling from 2018 to 2020. Using dynamic occupancy models, we found initial site occupancy was positively influenced by the amount of forested wetland habitat, while increasing road density and shrub cover negatively influenced the probability of site colonization. Surprisingly, we found no hypothesized variables to influence site‐level extirpation probability, or any seasonal effects on dynamic parameters. Lastly, we found that forest cover and road density negatively influenced the probability of detection. The probability of occupancy was high, >0.8, throughout much of the study area (49%), but we also found relatively high site transients, with the probability a site would change occurrence status from season to season at ≈0.27 in the majority of the study area (70%). Our results show that although bobcats can persist in human‐dominated landscapes, they require contiguous natural areas to do so. Future expansion of road infrastructure may reduce habitat connectivity and increase road mortalities, thus jeopardizing the population.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used the detection/non‐detection data from the camera survey to fit dynamic occupancy models to estimate site‐level initial occurrence (

ψ_{1}

), colonization (

γ

), extirpation (

ϵ

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transient persistence of bobcat (Lynx rufus) occurrence throughout a human‐dominated landscape

et al. 2022

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Mesocarnivore sensitivity to natural and anthropogenic disturbance leads to declines in occurrence and concern for species persistence

Ganoe,

Mayer,

Brown

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Understanding mesocarnivore responses to both natural and anthropogenic disturbance is crucial for understanding species' potential to maintain landscape persistence into the future. We examined the response of five mesocarnivore species (bobcat, coyote, fisher, gray fox, and red fox) to both types of disturbances and climatic conditions. The Northeastern U.S. has experienced multiple large‐scale disturbances, such as a mass defoliation event following larval spongy moth outbreak and high densities of infrastructure that divide the natural landcover into roadless zones where these species inhabit. Using dynamic occupancy models in a Bayesian framework, we aimed to (1) examine variation in species' responses over a 4‐year study by estimating variation in site‐level occupancy, colonization and extirpation of each species in the state of Rhode Island relative to natural disturbance (i.e., defoliation event), anthropogenic disturbance (i.e., parceling of natural landcover bounded by roads, distance to roads), and climate (i.e., seasonal precipitation) and (2) compare current occurrence trends to predicted asymptotic occupancy to identify key variables contributing to distribution instability. Our findings indicated declines in the occurrence of both fox species, and fisher. There was variation in mesocarnivore response to disturbance among the species. We found gray fox and fisher occupancy dynamics to be sensitive to all forms of disturbance and coyote occurrence was positively associated with anthropogenic disturbance. Although bobcat and red fox were predicted to respond positively to future climate scenarios, fisher and gray fox were not, and persistence of fisher and gray fox in a landscape of disturbance relies on large areas with high forest and shrubland cover. With the wide‐spread spongy moth outbreak across much of southern New England, our findings indicate that efforts to conserve forested lands may be crucial in maintaining the persistence of several mesocarnivore species in this region experiencing large‐scale disturbance.

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Scale of effect of landscape patterns on resource selection by bobcats (Lynx rufus) in a multi-use rangeland system

Branney,

Dutt,

Wardle

et al. 2024

Landsc Ecol

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Context There is a growing appreciation that wildlife behavioral responses to environmental conditions are scale-dependent and that identifying the scale where the effect of an environmental variable on a behavior is the strongest (i.e., scale of effect) can reveal how animals perceive and respond to their environment. In South Texas, brush management often optimizes agricultural and wildlife management objectives through the precise interspersion of vegetation types creating novel environments which likely affect animal behavior at multiple scales. There is a lack of understanding of how and at what scales this management regime and associated landscape patterns influence wildlife. Objectives Our objective was to examine the scale at which landscape patterns had the strongest effect on wildlife behavior. Bobcats (Lynx rufus) our model species, are one of the largest obligated carnivores in the system, and have strong associations with vegetation structure and prey density, two aspects likely to influenced by landscape patterns. We conducted a multiscale resource selection analysis to identify the characteristic scale where landscape patterns had the strongest effect on resource selection. Methods We examined resource selection within the home range for 9 bobcats monitored from 2021 to 2022 by fitting resource selection functions which included variables representing landcover, water, energy infrastructure, and landscape metrics (edge density, patch density, and contagion). We fit models using landscape metrics calculated at 10 different scales and compared model performance to identify the scale of effect of landscape metrics on resource selection. Results The scale of effect of landscape metrics occurred at finer scales. The characteristic scale for edge density and patch density was 30 m (the finest scale examined), and the characteristic scale for contagion occurred at 100 m. Bobcats avoided locations with high woody patch density and selected for greater woody edge density and contagion. Bobcats selected areas closer to woody vegetation and water bodies while avoiding herbaceous cover and energy development infrastructure. Conclusions A key step in understanding the effect of human development and associated landscape patterns on animal behavior is the identifying the scale of effect. We found support for our hypothesis that resource selection would be most strongly affected by landscape configuration at finer scales. Our study demonstrates the importance of cross-scale comparisons when examining the effects of landscape attributes on animal behavior.

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Population Genetics and Spatial Ecology of Bobcats (Lynx rufus) in a Landscape with a High Density of Humans in New England

Cited by 5 publications

References 61 publications

Transient persistence of bobcat (Lynx rufus) occurrence throughout a human‐dominated landscape

Transient persistence of bobcat (Lynx rufus) occurrence throughout a human‐dominated landscape

Mesocarnivore sensitivity to natural and anthropogenic disturbance leads to declines in occurrence and concern for species persistence

Scale of effect of landscape patterns on resource selection by bobcats (Lynx rufus) in a multi-use rangeland system

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