RT Journal Article
T1 Variability in the movement and foraging behaviour of female Eurasian lynx during the denning season across Europe
A1 Dalpiaz, Naima
A1 Krofel, Miha
A1 Mattisson, Jenny
A1 Vogt, Kristina
A1 Signer, Sven
A1 Oeser, Julian
A1 Premier, Joseph
A1 Rodríguez Recio, Maríano
A1 Andrén, Henrik
A1 Aronsson, Malin
A1 Dul'a, Martin
A1 Heurich, Marco
A1 Linnell, John D. C.
A1 Männil, Peep
A1 Molinari‐Jobin, Anja
A1 Odden, John
A1 Persson, Jens
A1 Oliveira, Teresa
AB Animal movement and reproductive behaviour are crucial components of ecological and evolutionary processes. After parturition, the behaviour of reproducing females adapts to the needs of their offspring, including thermoregulation, protection and food provisioning. However, little is known about how these adaptations vary across environmental conditions at larger scales in species with large distribution ranges. Here, we explored how female Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx movement and predation patterns change during the denning season. We analysed GPS telemetry data from two different climatic regions in Europe, cold and temperate, and evaluated the effect of explanatory variables on movement metrics and kill-to-den distances using generalized additive mixed models. Female lynx moved significantly longer daily distances in the cold region (central and northern Scandinavia) compared to the temperate region (southern Scandinavia and continental Europe) both before and after parturition. Reproducing females in both regions considerably reduced their movement after the start of the denning season. The typical pattern of increasing daily movements and decreasing time spent at the den with time persisted across regions, and the presence of females at the den followed a similar circadian rhythm, regardless of the markedly different daylight period. Only in the cold region females increased the distances of their excursions from the den as time passed. The distances between den and kill sites spanned from 1 to 3 km over the latitudinal range. The kill-to-den distances did not increase with time, but in the cold region the larger prey killsites were farther from the den than in the temperate region. Overall, our results show how some behaviours of female lynx during the denning season remain constant over a large latitudinal range, while others vary. This suggests local adaptations to particular environments, and possible increased energetic demands of reproducing females in more extreme environmental conditions.
PB Wiley
SN 0030-1299
YR 2025
FD 2025-09
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/134080
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/134080
LA eng
NO Dalpiaz, N., Krofel, M., Mattisson, J., Vogt, K., Signer, S., Oeser, J., Premier, J., Rodríguez-Recio, M., Andrén, H., Aronsson, M., Dul'a, M., Heurich, M., Linnell, J.D.C., Männil, P., Molinari-Jobin, A., Odden, J., Persson, J. and Oliveira, T. (2025), Variability in the movement and foraging behaviour of female Eurasian lynx during the denning season across Europe. Oikos, 2025: e11502. https://doi.org/10.1002/oik.11502
NO Funding:TO was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, grant no. SFRH/BD/144110/2019) and by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (grant J1-50013). MK was supported by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (grants P4-0059 and J1-50013). JM, JL and JO were supported by Research Council of Norway (grant no. 251112, 281092, and 156810), the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management, the Nature Protection Division of the County Governor's Office for Innlandet, Viken, Vestfold and Telemark, Trøndelag, Nordland, Troms and Finnmark County. KV and SS were supported by the charity foundation from Liechtenstein, hunting inspectorate of the Canton of Bern, Stotzer-Kästli-Stiftung, Zigerli-Hegi-Stiftung, Haldimann-Stiftung, Zürcher Tierschutz, Temperatio-Stiftung, Karl Mayer Stiftung, Stiftung Ormella. Data curation was supported by the Regina Bauer Stiftung.
NO Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal)
NO Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (Slovenia)
NO Research Council of Norway (Norway)
NO Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management (Norway)
NO Canton of Bern (Switzerland)
NO Stotzer-Kästli-Stiftung
NO Zigerli-Hegi-Stiftung
NO Haldimann-Stiftung
NO Zürcher Tierschutz
NO Temperatio-Stiftung
NO Karl Mayer Stiftung
NO Stiftung Ormella
NO Regina Bauer Stiftung
DS Docta Complutense
RD 29 mar 2026