Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2022
Season rather than habitat affects lynx survival and risk of mortality in the human-dominated landscape of southern Sweden
Andren, Henrik; Aronsson, Malin; Lopez-Bao, Jose, V; Samelius, Gustaf; Chapron, Guillaume; Rune Rauset, Geir; Hemmingmoore, Heather; Persson, JensAbstract
Landscapes are mosaics of habitat associated with different risks and resources, including human activities, which can affect individual survival in wildlife. Different relationships between habitat characteristics and human-caused and natural mortality can result in attractive sinks. We used individual-based data from 97 Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx monitored for 160 exposure-years to link adult survival and the risk of mortality to home range habitat characteristics in the human-dominated landscape of southern Sweden. Human-caused mortality (i.e. legal hunting, poaching and vehicle accidents) dominated mortality causes (24 out of 37 deaths). We did not detect any strong effects of habitat characterises explaining the variation in mortality risk in lynx. Although the density of roe deer affects several aspects of lynx ecology, we could not detect any effects of roe deer density on lynx survival, probably because roe deer density was sufficiently high in our study area. Instead, seasonal variation was the main factor influencing mortality in lynx. Mortality was highest during the hunting season for lynx (16 February-31 March), as well as during autumn and winter, probably because lynx poaching occurs opportunistically during the hunting season for moose and roe deer. We did not find any indication that human activity created attractive sinks for lynx, since there were no contrasting patterns between human-caused and natural mortality in terms of habitat characteristics. One explanation for the limited influence of the home range characteristics may be that lynx in our study died from multiple causes. Therefore, it is less likely that one or a few habitat characteristics could explain the risk of mortality at the home range scale. There is strong evidence that lynx can coexist with humans in multi-use and human-dominated landscapes, even without large protected areas, if the management regimes are favourable.Keywords
attractive sink; hunting; lynx; mortality; poaching; roe deerPublished in
Wildlife Biology2022, volume: 2022, number: 1
Publisher: WILEY
Authors' information
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
López-Bao, José Vicente
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
López-Bao, José Vicente
University of Oviedo
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
Snow Leopard Trust
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
Rauset, Geir Rune
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
Rauset, Geir Rune
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
UKÄ Subject classification
Ecology
Fish and Wildlife Management
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01008
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/115822