Rocks rock: the importance of rock formations as resting sites of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx

Signer, Johannes; Filla, Marc; Schöneberg, S.; Kneib, Thomas; Bufka, Luděk; Belotti, Elisa; Heurich, Marco

doi:10.2981/wlb.00489

Cited by 7 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The time of day, prey availability and hunting conditions are known to influence lynx home range use (Podgórski et al 2008;Filla et al 2017;Gehr et al 2017). Additionally, day resting sites are selected in areas away from all human infrastructure (Filla et al 2017;Gehr et al 2017;Signer et al 2019). Lynx have a distinct circadian activity pattern (Heurich et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement patterns and habitat selection during dispersal in Eurasian lynx

2020

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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.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement patterns and habitat selection during dispersal in Eurasian lynx

2020

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“…This trade-off between concealment and surveillance appears to be evident also from the previous research on resting site selection of felids across the world. Selection for low local visibility at the resting sites was for example observed for Eurasian lynx in Poland (Podgórski et al 2008), Iberian lynx in Spain (Fernández et al 2003), bobcats (Lynx rufus) in Midwest U.S.A (Kolowski and Woolf 2002), European wildcats in Germany (Jerosch et al 2010) and pumas in the Rocky Mountains in U.S.A. (Kusler et al 2017), while the use of conspicuous locations that provide good outlook of the surrounding was reported also for Eurasian lynx in Germany (Signer et al 2019) and for snow leopards in the Himalayas (Jackson 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…As in most other cat species, lynx spend the majority of the day resting and sleeping (Schmidt 1999). For this period, they need to find a secure place to avoid detection and disturbance by humans or competitors (Podgórski et al 2008;Belotti et al 2018;Signer et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many studies on lynx' habitat requirements did not differentiate habitat use among different behavioural states (but see e.g. Podgórski et al 2008;Bouyer et al 2015;Signer et al 2019), which can have important consequences for conservation and management (Roever et al 2014). Additionally, the scale of the selection was usually broad and did not consider local characteristics measured in-situ, such as local visibility and microhabitat structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the lowland forest in Białowieża, Poland, lynx were selecting resting sites with lower visibility (Podgórski et al 2008), similar to Bohemian Forest along the German-Czech border, where lynx preferentially used dense vegetation locations and inaccessible terrain to avoid human recreational activities (Filla et al 2017;Belotti et al 2018). There, lynx were also observed to select resting sites near or on rock formations, which are relatively rare Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 75: 34. doi: 10.1007/s00265-021-02977-7 4 in the region (Signer et al 2019). Currently, we are still lacking studies on the selection of resting sites from regions with rugged terrain and predominantly rocky landscapes, which are characteristic for much of the lynx range in the Alps, Carpathians, Dinaric Mountains and the Balkans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Felid bedrooms with a panoramic view: selection of resting sites by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in a karstic landscape

Hočevar

Oliveira

Krofel

2021

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is a crepuscular-nocturnal carnivore and mostly spends daytime resting. Although resting sites represent an important part of the lynx habitat and can be negatively affected by human activities, it is still poorly known how lynx select these sites, especially in regions with rugged topography characteristic for much of the species' range. We analysed micro-scale habitat selection of lynx resting sites at the home-range level in a karstic landscape of the Dinaric Mountains, Slovenia, using a use-availability study design. We also searched for differences in the selection of resting sites in respect to the presence of ungulate kills, which often limit the available resting sites during the prey-consumption period. Using generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) we tested which environmental features and human infrastructure are important for lynx when choosing resting sites. Lynx selected mountain ridges and hilltops, as well as locations with steeper slopes and lower local visibility. Such locations likely provide concealment from potential danger or prey and, at the same time, offer good overview of the surroundings. There was also a tendency to avoid forest cabins and to select rocky terrain and southern exposures, but support in the data for this was lower. When lynx were not limited by the presence of fresh kill, the selection tended to be stronger, but the differences were not significant, except for visibility, which was lower at resting sites near prey remains. Results likely reflect high availability of suitable resting sites in a rugged terrain of karstic landscape.

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Revealing functional responses in habitat selection of rocky features and rugged terrain by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) using LiDAR data

Čonč,

Oliveira,

Belotti

et al. 2024

Landsc Ecol

Self Cite

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Context Many carnivores are attracted to rugged terrain, rocky areas, and conspicuous relief features. However, most of the previous research is limited to general topographical habitat characteristics and rarely consider the effects of microhabitat characteristics. Objectives We used the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) as a model species to investigate the effects of microhabitat characteristics and human infrastructure on habitat selection. We also tested whether there is evidence for a functional response in habitat selection across a large gradient of habitat availability. Methods We developed a new approach for detecting rocky outcrops from airborne LiDAR data. In combination with other remote sensing techniques and GPS-telemetry data, we assessed lynx habitat selection and functional responses across two geologically contrasting areas in Europe. Results We detected > 1 million rocky outcrops and confirmed their strong selection by lynx. Lynx also selected steep, rugged, and rocky areas, especially for day-resting sites. Furthermore, lynx avoided paths during the day but selected them and other linear anthropogenic infrastructure during the night, indicating the behaviour-specific impact of human infrastructure. We also observed a functional response in the selection of rocky and rugged areas, as lynx’ selection of such habitats increased with their lower availability. This highlights the importance of preserving such terrains, especially when they are rare in a landscape. Conclusions Our results highlight the importance of incorporating remote sensing techniques and data on microhabitat features in animal habitat selection research. We also recommend caution when developing new infrastructure for human recreation or promoting its use near geomorphological features and in rugged terrain.

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Rocks rock: the importance of rock formations as resting sites of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 7 publications

References 34 publications

Movement patterns and habitat selection during dispersal in Eurasian lynx

Movement patterns and habitat selection during dispersal in Eurasian lynx

Felid bedrooms with a panoramic view: selection of resting sites by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in a karstic landscape

Revealing functional responses in habitat selection of rocky features and rugged terrain by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) using LiDAR data

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