Bio-monitoring Canada lynx to reveal intricate predator-prey interactions and boreal ecosystem dynamics

也许最著名的捕食者-猎物相互作用涉及加拿大山猫及其主要猎物雪鞋野兔。在整个北方森林中，山猫和野兔种群经历了9-11年的戏剧性波动，这是由它们错综复杂的捕食者-猎物关系驱动的，这些波动在北方森林生态系统中产生反响，深刻影响各种物种的动态。然而，由于山猫和野兔的隐秘习性，它们与捕食者-猎物的相互作用以及这些因素如何转化为北方森林生态系统水平的变化，仍然存在一些不确定因素。Kluane Lynx-Hare小组(KLHT；D.Murray，TrentU；S.Boutin，UAlberta；M.Humphries，McGillU)将使用所要求的基础设施(卫星无线电发射器、加速计、录音机)，以破译Yukon Kluane Lake的山猫与其环境之间的复杂相互作用。最先进的卫星发射器将被编程用于高强度收集精细运动，并部署在野外的山猫上；将在这些设备上安装加速计，以精确测量山猫的行为，包括觅食和狩猎；将部署微型录音机，以揭示猎物选择和狩猎成功的模式。总的来说，这些设备将帮助密集追踪山猫并记录杀戮事件，以评估野兔的捕食率是如何由以下因素决定的：i)野兔数量；ii)山猫之间的相互竞争；iii)替代猎物(即红松鼠)的相对可用性；以及iv)个体山猫的觅食行为。其次，该设备将有助于阐明山猫的运动和狩猎成功是否反映了两种流行的觅食理论模型中的一种(即斑块选择和猎物选择)。第三，由于仪表化山猫将与目前佩戴类似装置的野兔在空间上重叠，该设备将提供前所未有的洞察，以了解捕食者和猎物如何在空间上相互作用，以及猎物是否：i)在某些栖息地类型(例如，低结构盖度)中被不成比例地杀死；以及ii)在高度重叠的区域避开捕食者。第四，野兔数量预计将在明年大幅下降，山猫的身体状况将相应恶化。因此，我们的仪器将使我们能够高效地重新捕获个体山猫，这样我们就可以通过这种极端的自然应激源跟踪生理、身体状况和表观遗传学的变化，并将观察到的变化与从所需仪器收集的数据相关联。总而言之，这个基础设施将通过应用最先进的技术来扩大我们长期存在的山猫研究，以解决关于山猫生态和保护的主要问题，更广泛地说，解决北方森林中的捕食者-猎物种群动态。这项研究还将有助于填补关于一种标志性哺乳动物物种的知识空白，这种哺乳动物通过诱捕毛皮具有重要的经济价值。

Perhaps the most celebrated predator-prey interaction involves the Canada lynx and its primary prey, the snowshoe hare. Across the boreal forest, lynx and hare populations undergo dramatic 9-11 year fluctuations that are driven by their intricate predator-prey relationship, and these fluctuations reverberate through the boreal forest ecosystem to profoundly affect the dynamics of a variety of species. However, due to the cryptic habits of lynx and hares there remains a number of uncertainties associated with their predator-prey interaction, and how these translate to ecosystem-level changes in the boreal forest. The requested infrastructure (satellite radio-transmitters, accelerometers, audio recorders) will be used by the Kluane Lynx-Hare Team (KLHT; D. Murray, TrentU; S. Boutin, UAlberta; M. Humphries, McGillU) to decipher complex interactions between lynx and their environment at Kluane Lake, Yukon. State-of-the-art satellite transmitters will be programmed for high-intensity collection of fine-scale movements, and deployed on lynx in the field; accelerometers will be attached to these devices to provide precise measurement of lynx behavior, including feeding and hunting; miniaturized audio recorders will be deployed to reveal patterns of prey selection and hunting success. Collectively, these devices will help track lynx intensively and document killing events to assess how the predation rate on hares is shaped by: i) hare abundance; ii) agonistic interactions between lynx; iii) relative availability of alternate prey (i.e., red squirrel); and iv) foraging behaviour of individual lynx. Second, this equipment will serve to elucidate whether lynx movements and hunting success reflect either of two prevailing models of foraging theory (i.e., patch choice vs. prey choice). Third, because instrumented lynx will overlap spatially with hares currently wearing similar devices, the equipment will provide unprecedented insight into how predators and prey interact spatially, and whether prey: i) are killed disproportionately in certain habitat types (e.g., low structural cover); and ii) avoid predators in regions of high overlap. Fourth, the hare population is expected to crash in the next year and lynx body condition will deteriorate correspondingly. Accordingly, our instruments will allow us to recapture individual lynx with a high efficiency so we can track changes in physiology, body condition, and epigenetics through this extreme natural stressor, and relate observed changes to data collected from the requested instruments. Collectively, this infrastructure will expand our longstanding lynx research by applying state-of-the-art technologies toward solving major questions regarding lynx ecology and conservation, and more generally, predator-prey population dynamics in the boreal forest. The research also will contribute to knowledge gaps about an iconic mammal species that has an important economic value through fur trapping.