Taxon:
Lynx rufus

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Scientific Name
Lynx rufus
Common Name
bobcat
Taxa Group
mammal
Environment
terrestrial
Move Mode
walk

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2023 - 20253
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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Data package
    Data from: Study "GPS tracking of bobcats and coyotes in northern Washington"
    (2023-05-19) Prugh, Laura R.
    The challenge that large carnivores face in coexisting with humans calls into question their ability to carry out critical ecosystem functions such as mesopredator suppression outside protected areas. In this study, we examined the movements and fates of mesopredators and large carnivores across rural landscapes characterized by substantial human influences. Mesopredators shifted their movements toward areas with twofold-greater human influence in regions occupied by large carnivores, indicating that they perceived humans to be less of a threat. However, rather than shielding mesopredators, human-caused mortality was more than three times higher than large carnivore–caused mortality. Mesopredator suppression by apex predators may thus be amplified, rather than dampened, outside protected areas, because fear of large carnivores drives mesopredators into areas of even greater risk from human super predators.
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    Data package
    Data from: Study "Bobcat habitat connectivity study in central California"
    (2024-12-30) Serieys, Laurel E.K.; Matsushima, Stephani S.; Wilmers, Christopher C.
    Landscape connectivity is essential to conserving resilient wildlife populations in the Anthropocene. Maintaining connectivity requires preserving or restoring patches of habitat, accounting for the behavioral factors that determine movement between patches and mitigating threats. We measured natural and anthropogenic features that influence movement and mortality for bobcats (Lynx rufus) in a system threatened with complete isolation by urbanization. Our overarching objective was to inform local land acquisition and restoration to maintain two last-chance wildlife corridors. We collected five-minute movement data from 36 bobcats in central California to assess features of road-crossing hotspots and model habitat selection, including functional responses to housing densities and vegetation. We collected opportunistic mortalities and assessed rat poison exposure to evaluate edge effects as acute threats. Bobcats strongly selected for natural vegetation, evident at the level of a single tree or shrub. Individuals selected low-density housing (<5 houses/ha) yet avoided high-density housing development and monoculture agriculture. Narrow (<25 m wide) riparian strips were critical to connectivity. Bobcats successfully crossed the busiest highway in the landscape but frequently died when crossing a less-trafficked road with a high median barrier. Vehicles and disease were dominant sources of mortality, while 94% of bobcats were exposed to rat poisons despite California's 2014 regulations implemented to reduced wildlife exposure. Maintaining landscape connectivity requires conserving key habitats, mitigating the effects of infrastructure, and sustaining populations of highly mobile, healthy individuals. Our findings have driven conservation action through land acquisition. We demonstrate how robust, rapid data collection can facilitate real-world conservation outcomes.
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    Data package
    Data from: Study "Bobcat spatial ecology study in the Olympic Peninsula, Washington"
    (2025-05-15) Serieys, Laurel E.K.; Wong, Wai-Ming
    Forests are critical for sustaining biodiversity and provide vital ecosystem services globally, including renewable timber sources, nutrient flow, climate regulation, water supply and purification, and carbon sequestration. Human-caused forest loss, fragmentation, and degradation have resulted in biodiversity declines globally; unsustainable timber-logging is one of the largest drivers of forest loss and degradation. Harvest-driven shifts in forest structure and composition have considerable implications for wildlife species, with logging activities appearing beneficial for some wildlife species and detrimental to others. Our objective was to determine the effects of logging activities on fine-scale carnivore movement and habitat selection. We generated step selection functions from 1-hour interval spatial data from nine GPS-collared bobcats. Specifically, we examined how different post-harvest forest stands and canopy cover influenced bobcat habitat selection while controlling for other landscape features such as slope and distance to paved roads, logging roads, and streams in the Olympic Peninsula of western Washington, USA. We also tested the percent at which bobcat selection for canopy cover saturates. We found that bobcats avoided the young forest stands less than 5 years of age and older and mature forest stands exceeding 40 years of age. Bobcats selected for the forest age class spanning 6–15 years and gentler slopes. We also found that bobcat selection for canopy cover peaked at 66 % canopy cover. Our findings highlight the importance of evaluating different forms of human modification on species' habitat selection to inform how human resource extraction impacts species.