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. 2019 May 24;9(5):275.
doi: 10.3390/ani9050275.

Space Use and Movement of Urban Bobcats

Julie K Young  1   2 , Julie Golla  3 , John P Draper  4 , Derek Broman  5 , Terry Blankenship  6 , Richard Heilbrun  7
Affiliations

Space Use and Movement of Urban Bobcats

Julie K Young et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Global urbanization is rapidly changing the landscape for wildlife species that must learn to persist in declining wild spacing, adapt, or risk extinction. Many mesopredators have successfully exploited urban niches, and research on these species in an urban setting offers insights into the traits that facilitate their success. In this study, we examined space use and activity patterns from GPS-collared bobcats (Lynx rufus) in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Texas, USA. We found that bobcats select for natural/agricultural features, creeks, and water ways and there is greater home-range overlap in these habitats. They avoid roads and are less likely to have home-range overlap in habitats with more roads. Home-range size is relatively small and overlap relatively high, with older animals showing both greater home-range size and overlap. Simultaneous locations suggest bobcats are neither avoiding nor attracted to one another, despite the high overlap across home ranges. Finally, bobcats are active at all times of day and night. These results suggest that access to natural features and behavioral plasticity may enable bobcats to live in highly developed landscapes.

Keywords: Lynx rufus; anthropogenic resources; behavior; carnivore; spatial ecology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Location of the Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex, Texas, USA; (b) specific study site (hashed polygon) within the DFW metroplex; and (c) heat map from the resource selection function model created using data from GPS-collared bobcats in the study site. The Trinity River runs east–west through the south-end of the study area.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The 95% kernel-density estimation (KDE) home-range estimates for GPS-collared bobcats (n = 9) in the DFW metroplex, Texas, USA. This includes the home-range estimate for one dispersing juvenile.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proportion of simultaneous GPS locations for male–male (MM), male–female (MF), and female–female (FF) bobcats that were simultaneously within (a) 1000, (b) 700, (c) 500, or (d) 300 m of one another.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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