Habitat complexity and prey composition shape an apex predator’s habitat use across contrasting landscapes

This dataset contains snow-track observations of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and its main prey species collected across central and southern Finland between 2016 and 2020 within the Wildlife Triangle Scheme. The data include spatial records of species presence along standardized transects, combined with environmental and landscape variables describing forest structure, terrain complexity, and land cover. In addition, the dataset integrates information on prey species, including mountain hare (Lepus timidus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), enabling the analysis of predator–prey spatial associations.
The dataset was used to support joint species distribution modelling (HMSC) to evaluate relationships between lynx habitat use, environmental conditions, and prey distribution at a large spatial scale. Analyses based on these data indicate that lynx habitat use is consistently associated with structurally complex forests and heterogeneous terrain..., , # Habitat complexity and prey composition shape an apex predator’s habitat use across contrasting landscapes

**Dataset Overview**

This dataset contains snow-track observations of Eurasian lynx (*Lynx lynx*) and its main prey species collected across central and southern Finland between 2016 and 2020 within the Finnish Wildlife Triangle Scheme. The dataset integrates species data, environmental covariates, and spatial information to support joint species distribution modelling (HMSC) and analyses of predator–prey spatial associations.

**FILES INCLUDED**

1\. **YData.csv** Snow-track count data per species, triangle, and year.

All values represent the number of snow-track crossings recorded during standardized winter surveys.

All counts are integer values. Zero indicates no tracks detected.

**2. XData.xlsx** Environmental and spatial covariates associated with each wildlife triangle and year.

Variables:

triangle_id: Unique numeric identifier of wildlife triangle.

year: Sampling ..., ,