The proof is in the poop: First density estimates for a recovering bobcat population in southeast Ohio using DNA from scat

Abstract

The recovery of mammalian species in the US Midwest through natural recolonization constitutes a conservation success story, yet management remains challenging due to many unknowns related to population dynamics and abundance. Abundance is a critical parameter for management decisions, and estimating the density and abundance of elusive species, such as terrestrial carnivores, remains challenging despite recent technological advances. In this study, we evaluated density and abundance of a recovering carnivore species, the bobcat (Lynx rufus) in two areas of Ohio using non-invasive DNA from scat. The target areas in eastern and southern Ohio have been shown to have uneven dynamics and recolonization success and we expected that this would be reflected in differences in density and abundance. We collected 298 bobcat scats between July 2018 and April 2019 on 150 km of repeated transects. Of these, 102 scats were successfully genotyped, and 55 individuals were identified (33 in eastern Ohio and 22 in southern Ohio). Using Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture models, we estimated 17.9 ± 4.3 and 11.3 ± 2.9 bobcats/100 km2 in eastern and southern Ohio study areas, respectively. Our results support prior telemetry data which indicated that bobcats in eastern Ohio had smaller home-ranges than bobcats in southern Ohio, and thus could support a higher density of individuals. The higher densities were similar to other eastern US populations and are much higher than other Midwestern recovering populations. Our results provide a snapshot of the population status and can be used to determine sustainable management strategies for Ohio’s bobcat population