Foraging Ecology, Genetic Diversity and Spatial Behaviour of Caucasian Lynx in Anatolia

• Main Author: Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz
• Other Authors: male, Hofer, Heribert, Fickel, Jörns
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Lynx lynx dinniki; prey preferences; functional response; population genetics; spatial organisation; home range; spatial capture-recapture; Turkey; ddc:577; ddc:576; ddc:578; Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/27306; https://doi.org/10.17169/refubium-27062; https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:188-refubium-27306-0

Baseline ecological, genetic and behavioural information is still lacking and is urgently needed to set up an efficient conservation action plan for Caucasian lynx Lynx lynx dinniki in Turkey. This dissertation investigated the diet and foraging ecology of the three largest Caucasian lynx populations occupying three major lynx habitat types in Anatolia, the Asian part of Turkey. I also studied the spatial organisation and genetic variation as well as interactions between individuals of Caucasian lynx in a study area in northwestern Anatolia where I benefitted from long-term monitoring efforts started in 2009. In Chapter 2, I quantified the diet, prey preferences and functional response of three Caucasian lynx populations in Anatolia from a comparative perspective of European Eurasian lynx populations. The diet of the Eurasian lynx in Anatolia consists mostly of brown hares Lepus europaeus (78 % - 99 % of prey biomass consumed). Its foraging ecology fulfils expectations for a lagomorph specialist, similar to Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus and Canadian lynx Lynx canadensis in other ecosystems. Caucasian lynx in Anatolia display comparable body sizes and physiological requirements to individuals of other lagomorph specialist lynx species and consume half the daily food required to sustain a European Eurasian lynx individual. There was a high incidence of cannibalism, an aggressive behaviour that has very rarely observed in low density European lynx populations, observed in two ecosystems in Anatolia. In Chapter 3, I used nuclear molecular markers to investigate how sampling methodology can affect measures of genetic diversity if the population contains male territorial residents, other male residents and females are philopatric. I contrasted ‘invasive’ sampling, where tissue samples are obtained from individuals caught in box traps, with ‘non-invasive’ sampling, which requires the search and collection of faecal samples (in my case optimised through the training and use of a domestic dog trained to find lynx faeces) ...