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The Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) of Isle Royale: Over-harvest, Climate Change, and the Extirpation of an Island Population


Metadata FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributorRobert Gitzen, rag0012@auburn.eduen_US
dc.creatorLicht, Daniel S.
dc.creatorMoen, Ron A.
dc.creatorBrown, D. Paul
dc.creatorRomanski, Mark C.
dc.creatorGitzen, Robert A.
dc.date.accessioned2019-07-06T02:38:14Z
dc.date.available2019-07-06T02:38:14Z
dc.date.created2015
dc.identifierhttp://dx.doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v129i2.1694en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/1694en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11200/49427
dc.description.abstractIn the 1930s, the Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) was extirpated from Isle Royale, a 535-km2 island located in western Lake Superior, 22 km from the Ontario and Minnesota shorelines. The first half of the 20th century was a time of change on Isle Royale as Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) disappeared, Coyotes (Canis latrans) briefly appeared, Moose (Alces americanus), Grey wolves (Canis lupus), and Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) became established, and the habitat was altered by fire, logging, and over-browsing. although these changes may have contributed to the demise of the Canada Lynx, our results suggest that over-harvest was a primary cause. assuming a peak carrying capacity of 75 Canada Lynx and harvest rates comparable to those reported from 1890–1935, a population viability analysis indicated that the island population had a 0% chance of surviving 50 years. The analysis also indicated that, even in the absence of harvest, the population had only a 14% chance of persistence for 250 years. however, when 10 Canada Lynx were added to the modeled population every 10th year, the probability of persistence increased to 100%. Our analyses suggest that the island’s Canada Lynx population maintained itself by periodic immigration across an ice bridge; therefore, natural recolonization should be possible. however, the probability of ice-bridge formation has declined from 0.8 in the winter of 1958–59 to 0.1 in 2012–13, likely as a result of climate change. The Isle Royale situation exemplifies another impact of climate change and the possible need to augment populations to mitigate the loss of connectivity.en_US
dc.formatPDFen_US
dc.relation.ispartofThe Canadian Field-Naturalisten_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries0008-3550en_US
dc.rights© 2015. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en_US
dc.subjectCanada Lynxen_US
dc.subjectLynx canadensisen_US
dc.subjectclimate changeen_US
dc.subjectconnectivityen_US
dc.subjectisland biogeographyen_US
dc.subjectIsle Royaleen_US
dc.subjectmetapopulationen_US
dc.subjectover-harvesten_US
dc.subjectpopulation viability analysisen_US
dc.titleThe Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) of Isle Royale: Over-harvest, Climate Change, and the Extirpation of an Island Populationen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dc.type.genreJournal Article, Academic Journalen_US
dc.citation.volume129en_US
dc.citation.issue2en_US
dc.citation.spage139en_US
dc.citation.epage151en_US
dc.description.statusPublisheden_US
dc.description.peerreviewYesen_US

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