Data from: Variability in the movement and foraging behaviour of female Eurasian lynx during the denning season across Europe

Animal movement and reproductive behaviour are crucial components of
ecological and evolutionary processes. After parturition, the behaviour of
reproducing females adapts to the needs of their offspring, including
thermoregulation, protection, and food provisioning. However, little is
known about how these adaptations vary across environmental conditions at
larger scales in species with large distribution ranges. Here, we explored
how female Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) movement and predation patterns
change during the denning season. We analysed GPS telemetry data from two
different climatic regions in Europe, cold and temperate, and evaluated
the effect of explanatory variables on movement metrics and kill-to-den
distances using generalized additive mixed models. Female lynx moved
significantly longer daily distances in the cold region (central and
northern Scandinavia) compared to the temperate region (southern
Scandinavia and continental Europe), both before and after parturition.
Reproducing females in both regions considerably reduced their movement
after the start of the denning season. The typical pattern of increasing
daily movements and decreasing time spent at the den with time persisted
across regions, and the presence of females at the den followed a similar
circadian rhythm, regardless of the markedly different daylight period.
Only in the cold region females increased the distances of their
excursions from the den as time passed. The distances between den and kill
sites spanned from 1 to 3 km over the latitudinal range. The kill-to-den
distances did not increase with time, but in the cold region the larger
prey killsites were farther from the den than in the temperate region.
Overall, our results show how some behaviours of female lynx during the
denning season remain constant over a large latitudinal range, while
others vary. This suggests local adaptations to particular environments,
and possible increased energetic demands of reproducing females in more
extreme environmental conditions.