Suitability of GPS telemetry for studying the predation of Eurasian lynx on small- and medium-sized prey animals in the Northwestern Swiss Alps
European Journal of Wildlife Research(2018)
摘要
Predator diet composition and kill rates have to be known in order to quantify predation pressure on prey populations. While ground-truthing of GPS location clusters (GLCs) is a reliable method for finding large- and medium-sized prey items, finding the remains of small prey is still considered a major difficulty. In this study, we searched GLCs of Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx in the Northwestern Swiss Alps in order to determine if GLC analysis is a suitable method for detecting kill sites of new-born ungulates and other small prey animals. Juvenile ungulates made up 26% of the prey spectrum and 17% total consumed biomass (TCB), while hares, marmots, and red foxes accounted for 25% of all found prey items (8% TCB). Lynx spent significantly more time in GLCs containing large prey, but no clear transition in GLC duration for distinguishing between large (≥ 10 kg; mean duration = 46.9 h, SD = 30.1 h) and small prey (< 10 kg; mean duration = 26.7 h, SD = 21.1 h) could be defined. We explored the influence of different cut-off values for GLC duration on lynx diet composition. GLCs with a duration of < 9 h had less than 25% detection success, but still contained 13% of all small prey items. We conclude that GLC analysis is a promising tool for exploring predation on new-born ungulates, mesopredators, and other smaller prey animals weighing between 2 and 10 kg. However, substantial field effort is mandatory to sufficiently detect prey remains in short-lasting GLCs.
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关键词
GPS telemetry, Lynx lynx, Predation, Juvenile ungulates, GPS location clusters
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