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Challenges of Conserving a Wide-ranging Carnivore in Areas with Dense Road Networks

Bencin, Heidi L.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1543861790637513

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Biological Sciences (Arts and Sciences).
As bobcat (Lynx rufus) populations recover in Ohio, an accurate evaluation of demographic and population metrics such as mortality rates (natural or human-induced) and occupancy are critical to understanding past and future population trajectories. To identify predictors of road mortality, we used logistic regression to analyze landscape and local variables using a long-term data set (1978-2016) of georeferenced road kills. To explore whether bobcats exhibit road avoidance behaviors, we used telemetry data from 18 individuals to compare road crossings along actual trajectory paths with random road crossings using correlated random walks. We then computed the population-level mortality rate in a framework that combines traffic, behavioral, and landscape variables. Results show that bobcats are being killed at higher rates on interstates regardless of surrounding landscape variables, and that landscape variables are more useful at predicting mortality on smaller roads. We also found that bobcats exhibit avoidance of certain road types (predominantly county, municipal, and US routes), and that 6-30% (mean = 18%) of individuals are lost to vehicle strikes annually in Ohio. We then tested the use of a multi-method monitoring system (camera traps and hair snares) to understand occupancy of bobcats in southeast Ohio, their interactions with the eastern coyote (Canis latrans), and to evaluate bobcat abundance. We found that the probability of bobcat occupancy across our surveyed sites in southeast Ohio was 0.40 (0.290 - 0.533), and that baited hair snares had limited success in detecting bobcats (~0.1 detection probability). Coyotes and bobcats co-occurred throughout the landscape, though their spatial dynamics are complicated; both species are likely partitioning activity centers, though more research is needed. Our results add important information for evaluating the long-term population viability in Ohio, identify potential areas for mitigation of vehicle-strikes, and emphasize the importance of accounting for road mortality when making biologically meaningful management decisions for Ohio’s recovering bobcat population.
Viorel Popescu, PhD (Advisor)
Nancy Stevens, PhD (Committee Member)
Johnson Joseph, PhD (Committee Member)
77 p.
Ecology; Wildlife Conservation; Wildlife Management
space use; road-crossing behavior; annual mortality; roadkill; simulations; mesocarnivore

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bencin, H. L. (2018). Challenges of Conserving a Wide-ranging Carnivore in Areas with Dense Road Networks [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1543861790637513

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bencin, Heidi. Challenges of Conserving a Wide-ranging Carnivore in Areas with Dense Road Networks. 2018. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1543861790637513.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bencin, Heidi. "Challenges of Conserving a Wide-ranging Carnivore in Areas with Dense Road Networks." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1543861790637513

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1543861790637513
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.