Bobcat and Canada lynx do not use the same space or habitat
The bobcat and the Canada lynx are two of the three most common wild cat species in North America. The Canada lynx predominantly relies on snowshoe hare as prey and mostly occupies the boreal forest, whereas the bobcat relies on a variety of prey species and occupies a diversity of habitats across North America.
There are few areas where these two species occur together and there is some debate as to whether they might compete. Unfortunately, there is little research on populations of bobcat and Canada lynx in areas of overlap, which makes it difficult to gather evidence of competition between these species.
In Ontario, Canada, harvest records from trappers show that Canada lynx have moved northwards while bobcat are spreading into former Canada lynx territory. Both species are found on the north shores of Lake Huron in northeastern Ontario, Canada, and this area provides an opportunity to investigate how these species are distributed in space and to see what habitats they are using.
Read this open access paper on the FACETS website.
In this area, we surveyed snowmobile routes for bobcat and Canada lynx snow tracks over three winters. Bobcat and Canada lynx tracks were never found on the same survey route. Bobcat tended to occupy survey routes that had a higher variety of prey species and habitats, whereas the Canada lynx occupied areas with a low variety of prey species within forest stands dominated by evergreens.
Our findings suggest that the bobcat has invaded former lynx territory after these areas became vacant because of the change in habitat.
The story of the bobcat and the lynx is one of the loss of an iconic northern Canadian species due to human-caused climate and land use change and the eventual replacement by a southern habitat generalist.
Read the paper — Spatial segregation and habitat partitioning of bobcat and Canada lynx by Robby R. Marrotte, Jeff Bowman and Samantha J. Morin.
