Canada Lynx in the Great Lakes Region: Annual Report to USDA Forest Service and MN Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Abstract

In this report we summarize accomplishments of the Canada Lynx Ecology in the Great Lakes Region project. We carried out initial work in the Superior National Forest to address 4 major questions about this Canada lynx population: distribution, abundance, persistence, and habitat requirements. In the first 8 months of this project we have captured and deployed radiotelemetry collars on 8 Canada lynx. Each animal was relocated approximately weekly after being collared. Of the 8 Canada lynx that have been collared, 2 have died. Two of the collars deployed on Canada lynx were GPS collars. This marked the first time ever that a GPS collar was deployed on Canada lynx. We downloaded the locations from one of these GPS collars when one of the collared animals was recaptured on December 30th, 2003 after wearing the GPS collar for 3 weeks. The importance of GPS collar data for understanding movements and habitat use of Canada lynx should not be underestimated. In addition to the telemetry research, we have also conducted the first year of surveys for the major prey species of Canada lynx: snowshoe hare and red squirrel. Permanent pellet plots were established throughout the SNF for snowshoe hare. Plots were distributed based on stratified random, systematic, and selective site selection strategies. We established new plots to estimate red squirrel abundance in an area of known high lynx density, and also utilized an existing long-term data set for red squirrel abundance from SNF. Another year of surveys following the National Lynx Survey protocol was completed, and a snow-track survey for Canada lynx and other mesocarnivores was completed on the National Lynx Survey grid. There were also many opportunities to disseminate information on Canada lynx to the biological community and to the general public. More than 10 presentations on lynx biology were given by project personnel. Project personnel assisted in planning, helped with field trips, and gave presentations at the National Lynx and Wolverine Steering Committee Meeting in May 2003 and the Interagency Lynx Biology Team Meeting in October 2003, both of which were hosted by SNF. We have developed a website for the Canada Lynx Ecology in the Great Lakes Region project (www.nrri.umn.edu/lynx). This website provides a history of the project, lists project goals and accomplishments, and includes links to press coverage of the project. We begin the report with a brief chronological summary of the Canada lynx ecology in the Great Lakes Region project. The project was supported by several agencies with some common deliverables and some deliverables that varied among agencies. To produce a cohesive, logically organized Annual Report, we describe the project in its entirety, and we indicate specific deliverables in Appendix 1. We first describe Canada lynx trapping and the deployment of radiotelemetry collars. The radiotelemetry program is very important because each of the major deliverables depends on telemetry data. Next, we address progress made on each of the major questions: (1) Location, (2) Distribution, (3) Persistence, and (4) Habitat use. Prey species surveys and National Lynx Survey results are also summarized. We conclude each section with the current status and future plans for each research topic. We believe it is important to recognize that the project is only 8 months old. A complete answer for any of the questions will require the several years of data collection which is built into the project master plan. We caution that results presented in this report are preliminary because of the few animals that have been collared, and because of the relatively few locations that have been obtained. Management recommendations should not be made from the little information that has been obtained to date. However, with the number of Canada lynx now radiocollared, and with expectations of more in the near future, there will be sufficient data for management recommendations by the end of the second year of this project.