scholarly journals Comparing patterns of human harvest and predation by Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx on European roe deer Capreolus capreolus in a temperate forest

2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miha Krofel ◽  
Klemen Jerina ◽  
Franc Kljun ◽  
Ivan Kos ◽  
Hubert Potočnik ◽  
...  
Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 350
Author(s):  
Ivonne J. M. Teurlings ◽  
John Odden ◽  
John D. C. Linnell ◽  
Claudia Melis

Large solitary felids often kill large prey items that can provide multiple meals. However, being able to utilize these multiple meals requires that they can cache the meat in a manner that delays its discovery by vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers. Covering the kill with vegetation and snow is a commonly observed strategy among felids. This study investigates the utility of this strategy using observational data from Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx)-killed roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) carcasses, and a set of two experiments focused on vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers, respectively. Lynx-killed roe deer that were covered by snow or vegetation were less likely to have been visited by scavengers. Experimentally-deployed video-monitored roe deer carcasses had significantly longer time prior to discovery by avian scavengers when covered with vegetation. Carcass parts placed in cages that excluded vertebrate scavengers had delayed invertebrate activity when covered with vegetation. All three datasets indicated that covering a kill was a successful caching/anti-scavenger strategy. These results can help explain why lynx functional responses reach plateaus at relatively low kill rates. The success of this anti-scavenging behavior therefore has clear effects on the dynamics of a predator–prey system.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reidar Andersen ◽  
Jørn Karlsen ◽  
Lars Bendik Austmo ◽  
John Odden ◽  
John D. C. Linnell ◽  
...  

Behaviour ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 152 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1019-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Wikenros ◽  
Dries P.J. Kuijper ◽  
Robert Behnke ◽  
Krzysztof Schmidt

Ambush predators provide more persistent cues of predation risk compared to coursing predators and are predicted to exert stronger effects on behaviour of their prey. We studied anti-predator responses of ungulates by means of camera traps to an olfactory cue (fresh scat) of an ambush predator, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) both important prey species for lynx were not more vigilant when exposed to lynx scent, but reduced their visitation duration. Our results contrast with previously reported responses of red deer to scent from a coursing predator, the wolf (Canis lupus), where only vigilance and foraging behaviour but not visitation duration changed in response to wolf scat. This indicates that ungulates are able to recognize the risk of predation from predators with differing hunting modes based on olfactory cues and adjust their anti-predatory behaviour.


2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Molinari-Jobin ◽  
Paolo Molinari ◽  
Christine Breitenmoser-Würsten ◽  
Urs Breitenmoser

Author(s):  
Katarina Elofsson ◽  
Tobias Häggmark

AbstractLarge carnivores provide ecosystem and cultural benefits but also impose costs on hunters due to the competition for game. The aim of this paper was to identify the marginal impact of lynx (Lynx lynx) and wolf (Canis lupus) on the harvest of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Sweden and the value of this impact. We applied a production function approach, using a bioeconomic model where the annual number of roe deer harvested was assumed to be determined by hunting effort, abundance of predators, availability of other game, and winter severity. The impact of the predators on the roe deer harvests was estimated econometrically, and carnivore marginal impacts were derived. The results showed that if the roe deer resource was harvested under open access, the marginal cost in terms of hunting values foregone varied between different counties, and ranged between 18,000 and 58,000 EUR for an additional lynx family, and 79,000 and 336,000 EUR for an additional wolf individual. Larger marginal costs of the wolf, in terms of the impact on roe deer hunting, were found in counties where the hunting effort was high and the abundance of moose (Alces alces) was low. If instead, hunters could exert private property rights to the resource, the average marginal cost was about 20% lower than it would have been if there was open access, and the difference in wolf impact between counties with high and low moose density was smaller. Together, results suggest that the current plan for expanding the wolf population in south Sweden can be associated with a substantial cost.


2016 ◽  
Vol 167 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmin Schnyder ◽  
Rolf Ehrbar ◽  
Friedrich Reimoser ◽  
Klaus Robin

Ungulate populations and browsing intensities following the reintroduction of lynx in the canton of St. Gallen In the context of the project “Lynx resettlement north-east Switzerland” (LUNO), the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx L.) was reintroduced in the canton of St. Gallen from 2001. As a consequence of reduced roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) and Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra L.) population sizes, one goal was the reduction of browsing intensities in young forest stands. This study investigates interactions between the levels of this trophic cascade by means of data on lynx distribution, roe deer and chamois populations (hunting statistics and population estimations) as well as browsing intensities. The results have shown significantly reduced roe deer and chamois population sizes in the years after lynx reintroduction. The effect of lynx could have worked cumulatively with factors like hunting, weather conditions and diseases (chamois). Within the chamois population, the lynx probably affected primarily the forest chamois, although before and after the lynx presence other causal reasons have been responsible for population decreases. Furthermore, there was noted a significantly positive relationship between hunting statistics (as an indicator of local ungulate population sizes) and browsing intensities, although the size of local ungulate populations was one influencing factor among many more. The browsing intensity of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) was significantly reduced after lynx reintroduction in the core area of lynx distribution. All results have shown significant correlations and suggest an indirect influence of lynx on browsing intensities of silver fir. However, causal connections should be analysed in further studies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 451 ◽  
pp. 117483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne T.S. van Beeck Calkoen ◽  
Kieran Leigh-Moy ◽  
Joris P.G.M. Cromsigt ◽  
Göran Spong ◽  
Leo C. Lebeau ◽  
...  

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 352
Author(s):  
Ivonne J. M. Teurlings ◽  
Claudia Melis ◽  
Christina Skarpe ◽  
John D. C. Linnell

This study examines the extent to which above-ground trophic processes such as large carnivore predation on wild ungulates can cause cascading effects through the provision of carrion resources to below-ground ecosystem processes in the boreal forest of southeastern Norway. We measured the levels of 10 parameters in soil samples and 7 parameters in vegetation (wavy hair-grass, Avenella flexuosa, and bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus) at 0, 0.5 and 2 m distance from 18 roe deer (Capreolus caprelous) carcasses killed by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). We then compared these values to two control sites 20 m away from each carcass. Sampling was conducted 20–29 months after death. Neither soil nor vegetation samples showed a clear gradient in parameters (CN, NH4+, NO3−, P, PO4−, Ca, K, Mg and Na) from the center of a carcass towards the periphery. Similarly, there was no difference in the effect on soil and vegetation between winter- and summer-killed carcasses. Our results contrast with that of other studies that simulate the effect of predation with whole carcasses and which often exclude scavengers through fencing. The lack of detectable effects after about two years is likely due to the small size of roe deer carcasses and the fact that most tissues are consumed by the predator and scavengers before decomposition.


2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Wikenros ◽  
Olof Liberg ◽  
Håkan Sand ◽  
Henrik Andrén

We studied the effect of a recolonizing wolf ( Canis lupus L., 1758) population on a resident lynx ( Lynx lynx (L., 1758)) population in south-central Sweden. Wolf and lynx share the same prey species, western roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus (L., 1758)), and the size difference between the two species suggests a strong potential for interference competition. The spatial distributions of lynx family groups (n = 378) over four winters were not significantly affected by the increase in size and range of the wolf population. Survival of lynx kittens until 9 months of age did not differ significantly inside (54%; n = 37) and outside (62%; n = 42) wolf territories, and female lynx (n = 3) selected natal den sites (n = 19) in the same local area before and after wolf establishment. Furthermore, lynx home-range size (n = 42) did not increase as a result of presence of wolves and space use by female lynx (n = 3) was not affected by wolf establishment. We found no evidence of cleptoparasitism by wolves on roe deer killed by lynx. We conclude that the intensity of interference and exploitation competition between wolves and lynx was low.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document