Long‐Term Changes in Survival of Eurasian Lynx in Three Reintroduced Populations in Switzerland
ABSTRACT For conservation or management programs, basic data on vital rates are important but often hard to acquire for long‐lived and elusive wildlife species such as large carnivores. In this study, we analyzed long‐term changes in survival rates for different sexes and age classes (juvenile, suba...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71095 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850119776194527232 |
|---|---|
| author | K. Vogt F. Korner‐Nievergelt S. Signer F. Zimmermann I. Marti A. Ryser A. Molinari‐Jobin U. Breitenmoser Ch. Breitenmoser‐Würsten |
| author_facet | K. Vogt F. Korner‐Nievergelt S. Signer F. Zimmermann I. Marti A. Ryser A. Molinari‐Jobin U. Breitenmoser Ch. Breitenmoser‐Würsten |
| author_sort | K. Vogt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT For conservation or management programs, basic data on vital rates are important but often hard to acquire for long‐lived and elusive wildlife species such as large carnivores. In this study, we analyzed long‐term changes in survival rates for different sexes and age classes (juvenile, subadult, adult) in three reintroduced Swiss lynx populations (Alps, Jura, Northeastern Switzerland). A novel modeling approach allowed us to combine picture data from camera trapping and lynx pictures resulting from chance observations, telemetry data, and dead recoveries over a monitoring period of 25 years (1997–2022). Mean annual survival of adult lynx varied between 0.71 and 0.81 for males and between 0.70 and 0.85 for females. Mean survival of subadults ranged between 0.59 and 0.89 among populations. Juvenile survival was highly variable and low on average (< 0.4). Our findings highlight that unknown sources of mortality exist in some populations and that future studies on mortality causes and potential effects of inbreeding on survival are needed to ensure long‐term conservation of the lynx in Switzerland. Our study can serve as a basis for future studies on population viability and conservation threats to the species in human‐dominated landscapes and demonstrates the complexity and high variation of survival between different age and sex classes in space and time, potentially leading to source‐sink dynamics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-408f6c36de70478da2e71471f29f9592 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-408f6c36de70478da2e71471f29f95922025-08-20T02:35:33ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-04-01154n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71095Long‐Term Changes in Survival of Eurasian Lynx in Three Reintroduced Populations in SwitzerlandK. Vogt0F. Korner‐Nievergelt1S. Signer2F. Zimmermann3I. Marti4A. Ryser5A. Molinari‐Jobin6U. Breitenmoser7Ch. Breitenmoser‐Würsten8Foundation KORA (Carnivore Ecology & Wildlife Management) Ittigen SwitzerlandOikostat GmbH Ettiswil SwitzerlandFoundation KORA (Carnivore Ecology & Wildlife Management) Ittigen SwitzerlandFoundation KORA (Carnivore Ecology & Wildlife Management) Ittigen SwitzerlandInstitute for Fish and Wildlife Health, Vetsuisse Faculty University of Bern Bern SwitzerlandFoundation KORA (Carnivore Ecology & Wildlife Management) Ittigen SwitzerlandFoundation KORA (Carnivore Ecology & Wildlife Management) Ittigen SwitzerlandFoundation KORA (Carnivore Ecology & Wildlife Management) Ittigen SwitzerlandFoundation KORA (Carnivore Ecology & Wildlife Management) Ittigen SwitzerlandABSTRACT For conservation or management programs, basic data on vital rates are important but often hard to acquire for long‐lived and elusive wildlife species such as large carnivores. In this study, we analyzed long‐term changes in survival rates for different sexes and age classes (juvenile, subadult, adult) in three reintroduced Swiss lynx populations (Alps, Jura, Northeastern Switzerland). A novel modeling approach allowed us to combine picture data from camera trapping and lynx pictures resulting from chance observations, telemetry data, and dead recoveries over a monitoring period of 25 years (1997–2022). Mean annual survival of adult lynx varied between 0.71 and 0.81 for males and between 0.70 and 0.85 for females. Mean survival of subadults ranged between 0.59 and 0.89 among populations. Juvenile survival was highly variable and low on average (< 0.4). Our findings highlight that unknown sources of mortality exist in some populations and that future studies on mortality causes and potential effects of inbreeding on survival are needed to ensure long‐term conservation of the lynx in Switzerland. Our study can serve as a basis for future studies on population viability and conservation threats to the species in human‐dominated landscapes and demonstrates the complexity and high variation of survival between different age and sex classes in space and time, potentially leading to source‐sink dynamics.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71095Eurasian lynxLynx lynxmortalityreintroductionsurvivalSwitzerland |
| spellingShingle | K. Vogt F. Korner‐Nievergelt S. Signer F. Zimmermann I. Marti A. Ryser A. Molinari‐Jobin U. Breitenmoser Ch. Breitenmoser‐Würsten Long‐Term Changes in Survival of Eurasian Lynx in Three Reintroduced Populations in Switzerland Ecology and Evolution Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx mortality reintroduction survival Switzerland |
| title | Long‐Term Changes in Survival of Eurasian Lynx in Three Reintroduced Populations in Switzerland |
| title_full | Long‐Term Changes in Survival of Eurasian Lynx in Three Reintroduced Populations in Switzerland |
| title_fullStr | Long‐Term Changes in Survival of Eurasian Lynx in Three Reintroduced Populations in Switzerland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long‐Term Changes in Survival of Eurasian Lynx in Three Reintroduced Populations in Switzerland |
| title_short | Long‐Term Changes in Survival of Eurasian Lynx in Three Reintroduced Populations in Switzerland |
| title_sort | long term changes in survival of eurasian lynx in three reintroduced populations in switzerland |
| topic | Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx mortality reintroduction survival Switzerland |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71095 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kvogt longtermchangesinsurvivalofeurasianlynxinthreereintroducedpopulationsinswitzerland AT fkornernievergelt longtermchangesinsurvivalofeurasianlynxinthreereintroducedpopulationsinswitzerland AT ssigner longtermchangesinsurvivalofeurasianlynxinthreereintroducedpopulationsinswitzerland AT fzimmermann longtermchangesinsurvivalofeurasianlynxinthreereintroducedpopulationsinswitzerland AT imarti longtermchangesinsurvivalofeurasianlynxinthreereintroducedpopulationsinswitzerland AT aryser longtermchangesinsurvivalofeurasianlynxinthreereintroducedpopulationsinswitzerland AT amolinarijobin longtermchangesinsurvivalofeurasianlynxinthreereintroducedpopulationsinswitzerland AT ubreitenmoser longtermchangesinsurvivalofeurasianlynxinthreereintroducedpopulationsinswitzerland AT chbreitenmoserwursten longtermchangesinsurvivalofeurasianlynxinthreereintroducedpopulationsinswitzerland |