Fine-scale habitat selection by sympatric Canada lynx and bobcat

The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and the bobcat (Lynx rufus) are closely related species with overlap at their range peripheries, but the factors that limit each species and the interactions between them are not well understood. Habitat selection is a hierarchical process, in which selection at higher orders (geographic range, home range) may constrain selection at lower orders (within the home range). Habitat selection at a very fine scale within the home range has been less studied for both lynx and bobcat compared to selection at broader spatio-temporal scales. To compare this fourth-order habitat selection by the two species in an area of sympatry, we tracked lynx and bobcat during the winters of 2017 and 2018 on the north shore of Lake Huron, Ontario. We found that both lynx and bobcat selected shallower snow, higher snowshoe hare abundance, and higher amounts of coniferous forest at the fourth order. However, the two species were spatially segregated at the second order, and lynx...

加拿大猞猁（Lynx canadensis）与短尾猫（Lynx rufus）为亲缘关系密切的物种，二者的分布范围存在边缘重叠区域，但目前学界对限制各物种种群存续的关键因素以及二者间的种间相互作用仍缺乏充分认知。生境选择（habitat selection）是一类等级化过程，高阶选择（如地理范围、家域（home range）选择）往往会对低阶选择（即家域内部的生境选择）形成约束。相较于宽泛时空尺度（spatio-temporal scales）下的生境选择研究，针对猞猁与短尾猫在家域内部极精细尺度上的生境选择研究仍相对匮乏。为对比两种群在同域分布区（area of sympatry）内的第四级生境选择（fourth-order habitat selection）模式，本研究于2017年与2018年冬季，在安大略省休伦湖北岸对猞猁与短尾猫开展了追踪监测工作。研究结果显示，两类物种在第四级生境选择中均偏好积雪更浅、雪鞋兔（snowshoe hare）种群丰度更高、针叶林（coniferous forest）占比更高的区域。不过，二者在第二级生境选择上呈现空间分隔特征，且猞猁……