Season rather than habitat affects lynx survival and risk of mortality in the human-dominated landscape of southern Sweden

Landscapes are mosaics of habitat associated with different risks and resources, including human activities, which can affect individual survival in wildlife. Different relationships between habitat characteristics and human-caused and natural mortality can result in attractive sinks. We used individual-based data from 97 Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) monitored for 160 exposure years to link adult survival and the risk of mortality to home range habitat characteristics in the human-dominated landscape of southern Sweden. Human-caused mortality dominated mortality causes (24 out of 37 deaths). We did not detect any strong effects of habitat characteristics explaining the variation in mortality risk in lynx. Although the density of roe deer affects several aspects of lynx ecology, we could not detect any effects of roe deer density on lynx survival, probably because roe deer density was sufficiently high in our study area. Instead, there was a high seasonal variation in mortality lynx. Mortal...