Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2018, 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 em (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Viorel Popescu PhD (Advisor); Nancy Stevens PhD (Committee Member); Johnson Joseph PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology; Wildlife Conservation; Wildlife Management