Within-Stand Selection of Canada Lynx Natal Dens in Northwest Maine,USA |
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| Authors: | JOHN F. ORGAN JENNIFER H. VASHON JOHN E. MCDONALD JR. ADAM D. VASHON SHANNON M. CROWLEY WALTER J. JAKUBAS GEORGE J. MATULA JR. AMY L. MEEHAN |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 650 State Street, Bangor, ME 04401, USA;2. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, MA 01035, USA;3. United States Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, 79 Leighton Road, Suite 12, Augusta, ME 04330, USA;4. University of Northern British Columbia, International Center, 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC V2N 429, Canada |
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| Abstract: | Abstract Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) were listed as threatened in the contiguous United States under the Endangered Species Act in March 2000. Little information on lynx ecology at the southern extent of their range was available at the time of listing, and no ecological studies had been conducted in the eastern USA. Between 1999 and 2004, we investigated habitat selection at natal dens in northern Maine to address questions on the importance of forest conditions to denning requirements. We compared within-stand characteristics of 26 den sites to general characteristics of the stands containing dens. We used logistic regression to identify components within stands that distinguished natal dens from the residual stand and used the information-theoretic approach to select models that best explained lynx den-site selection. The top-ranked model had 2 variables: tip-up mounds of blown-down trees and visual obscurity at 5 m from the den (wi = 0.92). Within-stand structure was useful for predicting lynx den-site selection in managed forests in Maine and suitable denning habitat did not appear to be limiting. |
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| Keywords: | Canada lynx dens habitat selection Lynx canadensis Maine |
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