Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe ...

• Main Authors: Mattisson, Jenny, Linnell, John D. C., Anders, Ole, Belotti, Elisa, Breitenmoser-Würsten, Christine, Bufka, Ludek, Fuxjäger, Christian, Heurich, Marco, Ivanov, Gjorge, Jędrzejewski, Włodzimierz, Kont, Radio, Kowalczyk, Rafał, Krofel, Miha, Melovski, Dime, Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz, Middelhoff, Tomma Lilli, Molinari-Jobin, Anja, Odden, John, Ozoliņš, Jānis, Okarma, Henryk, Persson, Jens, Schmidt, Krzysztof, Vogt, Kristina, Zimmermann, Fridolin, Andrén, Henrik
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2022
• Subjects: FOS Natural sciences; Lynx lynx; Demography; FOS Sociology; carnivore; reproductive phenology; Nature and Landscape Conservation; Ecology; FOS Biological sciences; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xksn02vjk; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.xksn02vjk

The ecology and evolution of reproductive timing and synchrony has been a topic of great interest in evolutionary ecology for decades. Originally motivated by questions related to behavioural and reproductive adaptation to environmental conditions, the topic has acquired new relevance in the face of climate change. However, there has been relatively little research on reproductive phenology in mammalian carnivores. The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) occurs across the Eurasian continent, covering three of the four main climate regions of the world. Thus their distribution includes a large variation in climatic conditions, making it an ideal species to explore reproductive phenology. Here, we used data on multiple reproductive events from 169 lynx females across Europe. Mean birth date was May 28 (April 23 to July 1), but was ~10 days later in northern Europe than in central and southern Europe. Birth dates were relatively synchronised across Europe, but more so in the north than in the south. Timing of birth were ... : Includes date of birth for Eurasian lynx, litter sizes and environmental covariables. For details see README and the main paper. ...