Canada lynx occurrence and forest management in the Acadian Forest
| Autor: | Daniel J. Harrison, Erin Simons-Legaard, Jennifer H. Vashon, William B. Krohn |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
Ecology
biology Range (biology) Snowshoe hare Forest management Wildlife biology.organism_classification Predation Geography Habitat Abundance (ecology) General Earth and Planetary Sciences Satellite imagery Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Nature and Landscape Conservation General Environmental Science |
| Zdroj: | The Journal of Wildlife Management. 77:567-578 |
| ISSN: | 0022-541X |
| DOI: | 10.1002/jwmg.508 |
| Popis: | We evaluated patterns of occurrence and non-occurrence for Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) across a 16,530-km2 study area in Maine to provide a better understanding of lynx habitat selection and habitat ecology on commercially managed forestlands in the Acadian Forest. Because of the influence of forest structure on lynx habitat selection and abundance of their primary prey, the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), and to improve our ability to build robust models, we used habitat information derived from a time series of Landsat satellite imagery spanning the period 1973–2004. We defined and mapped 10 forest types based on forest harvest history, time since harvest, and current forest condition. We compared a suite of models to evaluate relative influences of forest composition, habitat patch configuration, and hare density on habitat selection by lynx at the landscape scale. Occupied areas had greater average hare densities and percentage of mature conifer. Average hare density in occupied areas (0.74 hares/ha) was greater than in unoccupied areas (0.62 hares/ha), but was less than previous research has suggested may be necessary to support lynx populations in the southern portion of the species' range. No occupied areas occurred where average hare density was 0.5 hares/ha. © The Wildlife Society, 2013 |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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