Understanding the spatial and foraging ecology of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) population across Europe using an integrative approach

• Main Author: Almeida De Oliveira, Maria Teresa
• Other Authors: Krofel, Miha
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: M. T. Almeida De Oliveira 2024
• Subjects: Foraging; predation; denning; resting; artificial feeding; space use; habitat selection; GPS telemetry; GPS clusters; Eurasian lynx; Lynx lynx; Europe; prehranjevanje; plenjenje; razmnoževanje; počivališča; krmljenje; raba prostora; izbira habitata; GPS telemetrija; gruče GPS lokacij; evrazijski ris; Evropa; info:eu-repo/classification/udc/599.742.734(043.3); Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=154580; https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?id=181087&dn=; https://plus.cobiss.net/cobiss/si/sl/bib/186756355; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12556/RUL-154580

Animal movement patterns are intrinsically connected to multiple behavioural states, such as foraging, resting, and mating. However, some of these states can be risky and energetically expensive, thus they can have strong implications for animal fitness and survival. Here, we used GPS telemetry to study Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) spatial and foraging ecology and its connection to various behavioural states at different scales, from local populations to a continental scale (Europe). For this purpose, we developed methodological advancements for identifying kill sites from GPS telemetry data, which can be applied also to other species and studies with similar goals. We found that the variation of foraging parameters across a gradient of anthropogenic disturbances is context-dependent, while the influence of individual factors, such as social status, is consistent across Europe. We obtained less conclusive results regarding the impact of prey availability, but we detected a significant effect of the presence of dominant scavengers. Foraging and movement of females during the denning period were also overall consistent across populations. The choice of daily resting sites did not change significantly while lynx was using a kill site, although this was studied only in a single population in Dinaric Mountains. In the same population we also found that naive and experienced individuals exhibited different movement and feeding patterns in relation to the distribution of artificial feeding sites. Overall, our study provides the first insights into how several lynx behavioural states vary in response to a wide range of environmental factors at a continental scale. This knowledge enables us to quantify and predict populational responses, which is particularly relevant under the light of the increasing anthropogenic pressure. Gibanje živali je neločljivo povezano s različnimi vedenjskimi stanji, kot so hranjenje, počivanje in razmnoževanje. Nekatera od teh stanj so lahko tvegana in energijsko potratna, zato lahko pomembno ...