| Summary: | Large terrestrial carnivores are capable of long dispersal distances and thus have a potentially high rate of gene flow between populations. Even with such high mobility, discontinuous habitat and human-caused mortality may constrain dispersal and gene flow. Therefore, isolation of populations because of habitat fragmentation may cause genetic structuring in them because of genetic drift. In a continuous population, geographic barriers should not significantly affect dispersal and gene flow, so the effects of social, ecological and evolutionary forces are easier to detect. In large carnivores, males generally disperse more often and earlier than females and their dispersal distances are longer than those of females. The direction of sex-bias in dispersal is commonly explained by inbreeding avoidance, polygynous mating system and male-male competition. Remaining in, or near, the natal home range is explained by kin selection and inclusive fitness. Molecular evidence reveals the spatial genetic structure and clustering of relatives and family lines that may underlie these traits. We studied the spatial genetic relatedness, family structure, movement patterns and sex- bias of dispersal in the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in an unfragmented population in southern Finland. We used GIS and resource selection functions to analyse telemetry data of dispersing lynx and genetic methods to analyse data obtained from hunted lynx. Dispersal onset age, duration, distance, route or route linearity did not differ statistically between males and females that dispersed. However, the small number of females and the high variation in all dispersal parameters likely affected the outcome of analysis. Linear distance between the start and the end comprised only 20 % of the total dispersal route. Lynx selected their habitat non-randomly. During daylight hours lynx were more discerning in their habitat selection, while most of the traveling took place at night, reflecting the crepuscular and nocturnal activity of the lynx. According to the ...
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