Predicting the effects of forest management on lynx populations

Abstract

Lynx are quintessential snowshoe hare predators with morphological adaptations such as large paws. This species depends on boreal forests, so the listing of Canada Lynx as a Threatened species is a major conservation issue to forest managers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated that human alteration of forest abundance, composition, and connectivity was the most influential factor affecting lynx habitat (Federal Register 63(130):36994-37013). Yet, we do not understand how forest structure and landscape pattern impact the ecology of southern lynx populations. Thus, land managers lack the empirical basis for predicting the positive and negative effects of forest management on lynx populations.

Citation

Squires, John R. 2008. Predicting the effects of forest management on lynx populations. Wild Felid Monitor. Winter 1(1): 14.