Date:
December 18, 2014
Source:
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Summary:
Whether a lynx hunts by day
or by night and how active it is overall depend primarily on the
behavior of the wild cat's most important prey and its individual traits
- lighting conditions, on the other hand, do not play a major role in
its basic behavioral patterns. This is the key finding of a new study in
which scientists fitted GPS collars and motion sensors on 38
free-ranging lynx.
The scientists fitted GPS collars and motion sensors on 38 free-ranging lynx for the study.
Credit: Image courtesy of Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
An
international research team recorded and analyzed the activity patterns
of 38 wild cats over the course of months Whether a lynx hunts by day or
by night and how active it is overall depend primarily on the behavior
of the wild cat's most important prey and its individual traits --
lighting conditions, on the other hand, do not play a major role in its
basic behavioral patterns. This is the key finding of a study published
in the journal PLOS ONE by an international research team led by forest
scientist Dr. Marco Heurich.
The scientists fitted GPS collars and motion sensors on 38
free-ranging lynx for the study. Since the study sites were located
across a wide latitudinal range from Central Europe to northern
Scandinavia, the length of days and nights varied greatly between them.
The team recorded and analyzed the activity patterns of the wild cats on
a total of more than 11,000 days. The results reveal that lynx in more
southerly regions are most active at dawn and dusk and that they move
more by night than by day. They take their longest break in the middle
of the day, and this break is extended as daylight duration increases.
However, the cats exhibit this basic behavioral pattern independently of
lighting conditions: "Lynx keep to a 24-hour rhythm with an active and a
resting phase even on the polar day and the polar night," reports
Heurich.
What the study found to be more important for explaining the wild cats' activity patterns are their individual traits: Young lynx are more active than adult lynx, and male adults are more active than female adults. In addition, they move more in spring and summer than in fall and winter, and the farther north they live, the larger the territory they cover -- and this of course results in higher activity. Lynx adapt their hunting schedule to the behavior of their prey. In polar regions, the height of their activity at dusk is less pronounced. This corresponds to the behavioral pattern of reindeer, which exhibit a steady movement profile outside of their sleeping phases.. In Central Europe, by contrast, the team found a maximum amount of activity at dusk -- in lynx as well as in deer. "The findings of this study make an important contribution to our understanding of the habits of predatory animals in our landscape," says Heurich. "They also show that human activities in the areas included in the study do not have a general influence on the activity pattern of the animals."
What the study found to be more important for explaining the wild cats' activity patterns are their individual traits: Young lynx are more active than adult lynx, and male adults are more active than female adults. In addition, they move more in spring and summer than in fall and winter, and the farther north they live, the larger the territory they cover -- and this of course results in higher activity. Lynx adapt their hunting schedule to the behavior of their prey. In polar regions, the height of their activity at dusk is less pronounced. This corresponds to the behavioral pattern of reindeer, which exhibit a steady movement profile outside of their sleeping phases.. In Central Europe, by contrast, the team found a maximum amount of activity at dusk -- in lynx as well as in deer. "The findings of this study make an important contribution to our understanding of the habits of predatory animals in our landscape," says Heurich. "They also show that human activities in the areas included in the study do not have a general influence on the activity pattern of the animals."
Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
The above story is based on materials provided by Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
- Marco Heurich, Anton Hilger, Helmut Küchenhoff, Henrik Andrén, Luděk Bufka, Miha Krofel, Jenny Mattisson, John Odden, Jens Persson, Geir R. Rauset, Krzysztof Schmidt, John D. C. Linnell. Activity Patterns of Eurasian Lynx Are Modulated by Light Regime and Individual Traits over a Wide Latitudinal Range. PLoS ONE, 2014; 9 (12): e114143 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114143
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität
Freiburg. "Lynx take lunch breaks." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18
December 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141218081006.htm>.
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