Foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx populations in southwest Asia: Conservation implications for a diet specialist

Intraspecific variation in key traits of widespread species can be hard to predict, if populations have been very little studied in most of the distribution range. Asian populations of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), one of the most widespread felids worldwide, are such a case in point. We investigat...

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Main Authors: Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz, Ambarlı, Hüseyin, Berger, Anne, Hofer, Heribert
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/23225
https://doi.org/10.17169/refubium-1017
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4439
id ftfuberlin:oai:refubium.fu-berlin.de:fub188/23225
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spelling ftfuberlin:oai:refubium.fu-berlin.de:fub188/23225 2023-05-15T18:50:20+02:00 Foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx populations in southwest Asia: Conservation implications for a diet specialist Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz Ambarlı, Hüseyin Berger, Anne Hofer, Heribert 2018 13 Seiten application/pdf https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/23225 https://doi.org/10.17169/refubium-1017 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4439 eng eng https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/23225 http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-1017 doi:10.1002/ece3.4439 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY brown hare cannibalism feeding behavior functional response prey preferences Trukey ddc:599 doc-type:article 2018 ftfuberlin https://doi.org/10.17169/refubium-1017 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4439 2022-05-15T20:46:02Z Intraspecific variation in key traits of widespread species can be hard to predict, if populations have been very little studied in most of the distribution range. Asian populations of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), one of the most widespread felids worldwide, are such a case in point. We investigated the diet of Eurasian lynx from feces collected Mediterranean, mixed forest‐steppe, and subalpine ecosystems of Turkey. We studied prey preferences and functional responses using prey densities obtained from Random Encounter Modelling. Our analysis revealed that the main prey was brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in all three areas (78%–99% of biomass consumed) and lynx showed a strong preference for brown hare (Chesson's selectivity index, α = 0.90–0.99). Cannibalism contributed at least 5% in two study areas. The type II functional response of lynx populations in Turkey was similar to the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and daily food intake in grams per lynx matched that of Canada lynx and Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), both lagomorph specialists, rather than those of Eurasian lynx from Europe. Therefore, lynx in Turkey may be better described as a lagomorph specialist even though it coexists with ungulate prey. We suggest that ungulate‐based foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx in Europe may be a recent adjustment to the availability of high densities of ungulates and cannot be representative for other regions like Turkey. The status of lagomorphs should become an essential component of conservation activities targeted at Eurasian lynx or when using this species as a flagship species for landscape preservation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Lynx Lynx lynx lynx Freie Universität Berlin: Refubium (FU Berlin) Canada
institution Open Polar
collection Freie Universität Berlin: Refubium (FU Berlin)
op_collection_id ftfuberlin
language English
topic brown hare
cannibalism
feeding behavior
functional response
prey preferences
Trukey
ddc:599
spellingShingle brown hare
cannibalism
feeding behavior
functional response
prey preferences
Trukey
ddc:599
Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz
Ambarlı, Hüseyin
Berger, Anne
Hofer, Heribert
Foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx populations in southwest Asia: Conservation implications for a diet specialist
topic_facet brown hare
cannibalism
feeding behavior
functional response
prey preferences
Trukey
ddc:599
description Intraspecific variation in key traits of widespread species can be hard to predict, if populations have been very little studied in most of the distribution range. Asian populations of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), one of the most widespread felids worldwide, are such a case in point. We investigated the diet of Eurasian lynx from feces collected Mediterranean, mixed forest‐steppe, and subalpine ecosystems of Turkey. We studied prey preferences and functional responses using prey densities obtained from Random Encounter Modelling. Our analysis revealed that the main prey was brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in all three areas (78%–99% of biomass consumed) and lynx showed a strong preference for brown hare (Chesson's selectivity index, α = 0.90–0.99). Cannibalism contributed at least 5% in two study areas. The type II functional response of lynx populations in Turkey was similar to the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and daily food intake in grams per lynx matched that of Canada lynx and Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), both lagomorph specialists, rather than those of Eurasian lynx from Europe. Therefore, lynx in Turkey may be better described as a lagomorph specialist even though it coexists with ungulate prey. We suggest that ungulate‐based foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx in Europe may be a recent adjustment to the availability of high densities of ungulates and cannot be representative for other regions like Turkey. The status of lagomorphs should become an essential component of conservation activities targeted at Eurasian lynx or when using this species as a flagship species for landscape preservation.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz
Ambarlı, Hüseyin
Berger, Anne
Hofer, Heribert
author_facet Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz
Ambarlı, Hüseyin
Berger, Anne
Hofer, Heribert
author_sort Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz
title Foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx populations in southwest Asia: Conservation implications for a diet specialist
title_short Foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx populations in southwest Asia: Conservation implications for a diet specialist
title_full Foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx populations in southwest Asia: Conservation implications for a diet specialist
title_fullStr Foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx populations in southwest Asia: Conservation implications for a diet specialist
title_full_unstemmed Foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx populations in southwest Asia: Conservation implications for a diet specialist
title_sort foraging ecology of eurasian lynx populations in southwest asia: conservation implications for a diet specialist
publishDate 2018
url https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/23225
https://doi.org/10.17169/refubium-1017
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4439
geographic Canada
geographic_facet Canada
genre Lynx
Lynx lynx lynx
genre_facet Lynx
Lynx lynx lynx
op_relation https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/23225
http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-1017
doi:10.1002/ece3.4439
op_rights https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
op_rightsnorm CC-BY
op_doi https://doi.org/10.17169/refubium-1017
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4439
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