A landscape of coexistence for a large predator in a human dominated landscape

Abstract

Human related mortality is a major threat for large carnivores all over the world and there is increasing evidence that large predators respond to human related risks in a similar way as prey respond to predation risk. This insight recently led to the conceptual development of a landscape of coexistence that can be used to identify areas which can sustain large predator populations in human dominated landscapes. In this study we applied the landscape of coexistence concept to a large predator in Europe. We investigated to what extent Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx habitat selection is affected by human disturbance in a human dominated landscape. More specifically, we were interested in the existence of a tradeoff between the availability of roe deer, one of their main prey and avoidance of human disturbance and how this affects the spatiotemporal space use patterns of lynx. We found that lynx face a tradeoff between high prey availability and avoidance of human disturbance and that they respond to this by using areas of high prey availability (but also high human disturbance) during the night when human activity is low. Furthermore our analysis showed that lynx increase their travelling speed and remain more in cover when they are close to areas of high human disturbance. Despite clear behavioral adjustments in response to human presence, prey availability still proved to be the most important predictor of lynx occurrence at small spatial scale, whereas human disturbance was considerably less important. The results of our study demonstrate how spatio-temporal adaptations in habitat selection enable large carnivores to persist in human dominated landscapes and demonstrate the usefulness of the concept of a landscape of coexistence to develop adaptive management plans for endangered populations of large carnivores.

Habitat selection by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is primarily driven by avoidance of human activity during day and prey availability during night

“…So far, differences in habitat selection by Eurasian lynx between the phases of the day and between seasons have been poorly investigated. Therefore, we anticipate that results of this study in conjunction with findings from previous research activities in the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem conducted on different spatial scales (Belotti et al., , ; Magg et al., ) and with recent studies on other lynx populations (Gehr et al., in press) will contribute to successful management and conservation of Eurasian lynx in the study area and beyond.…”

“…A limited number of studies have investigated habitat selection by lynx on a finer scale (third‐ or fourth‐order selection) and have mainly described microhabitat characteristics, such as significance of low visibility for resting sites and importance of habitat heterogeneity (stalking cover, good visibility) for kill sites (Belotti et al., ; Podgórski, Schmidt, Kowalczyk, & Gulczyńska, ). Roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ), the main prey of lynx in Central Europe (Jędrzejewski, Schmidt, Milkowski, Jędrzejewska, & Okarma, ), reach good body condition and high densities in human‐modified landscapes (Abbas et al., ; Basille et al., ; Hewison et al., ) which also applies for Central Europe (Heurich et al., ; Gehr et al., in press; Märkel et al, unpublished data). Here, the main causes of lynx mortality, poaching and road accidents (e.g., Kaczensky et al., ), are related to humans.…”

Hunting‐mediated predator facilitation and superadditive mortality in a European ungulate

“…Lynx density in the region was estimated at 2.05 independent lynx/100 km 2 in winter 2013/2014 (Zimmermann et al., ), and the main prey are roe deer and chamois (Gehr et al. ). Hence, hunting and lynx predation are the main causes of mortality for roe deer in the area (Gehr, ).…”

“…As a proxy for predation risk, we used a previously developed resource selection function for active lynx (Gehr et al. ; Appendix ), as lynx are more likely to be hunting while active. Therefore, we assume that predation risk is correlated with the probability of deer encountering an active lynx.…”

“…In our study area, roe deer are shot almost exclusively in the open between sunrise and sunset (see below for details) using a sit-and-wait tactic, and hunting with dogs is very rare (B. Gehr personal observations). Lynx density in the region was estimated at 2.05 independent lynx/100 km 2 in winter 2013/2014 (Zimmermann et al, 2014), and the main prey are roe deer and chamois (Gehr et al 2017). Hence, hunting and lynx predation are the main causes of mortality for roe deer in the area (Gehr, 2016).…”