Monitoring_Lynx-lynx-carpathicus

3. Výsledky zo západných Karpát / Results from the Western Carpathians________________________________________________________________________________________Camera stations (N = 43–45) were distributed in a2.5 x 2.5 km grid derived from the IUCN grid andplaced at the best identified position within eachstipulated square (Zimmermann et al. 2013).Camera traps were placed at a height of 40–60cm with an average distance of 2–3 metres fromthe anticipated lynx position and motion. Toprevent damage and theft camera traps wereplaced in a metal box and attached to a tree with asteel lock. Devices were set for 24 hour recordingand reactivation delay of 5–10 seconds dependingon the model of camera trap (passive infraredMoultrie M880 or Cuddeback Ambush with whiteflash). Camera stations were checked periodicallyevery two weeks in order to collect photographiccaptures and conducted maintenance (replacebatteries and assess the technical condition).Intensive monitoring was conducted in winter2013/2014 in both reference areas in two blocks(Karanth & Nichols 2002). The western portion ofeach area (block A) was monitored from 6 Januaryto 6 March and the eastern portions (block B) from16 March to 14 May 2014, a total of 120 days. Inwinter 2014/2015, intensive monitoring wasconducted throughout Veľká Fatra simultaneously,without separation of blocks, from 4 December2014 to 2 February 2015 (60 days). Each 60-daycamera trapping session was divided into 12“capture occasions” of 5 consecutive days.Multiple captures of the same individual at aparticular trap site within the same captureoccasion were treated as a single capture. Acapture history was compiled for eachindependent (adult) individual identified duringintensive monitoring.Each picture included the camera stationposition with date and time for inclusion into thecorresponding capture occasion (1–12). Individualidentification of photographic captures was basedon lynx coat patterns (Laas 1999, Breitenmoser &Breitenmoser-Würsten 2008). The criterion forproper identification was four correspondingpatterns on at least three parts of the body (Fig. 1).Pictures with reduced or unsuitable quality couldcause inaccurate identification and therefore weretreated as negative images and excluded fromfurther analysis.Data analysisDemographic and geographic population wastested using the CloseTest software (Stanley &Burnham 1998, Stanley & Richards 2004).Density estimation was calculated usingstatistical program R (The R Foundation forstatistical computing © 2014) in modul SPACECAPand Bayesian statistics (Royle et al. 2009a, b). Datafor SPACECAP were prepared as three input files:1) animal captures, 2) camera station activity, and3) potential home range centres (suitable vs.unsuitable habitat). The proportion of suitable andunsuitable habitat was derived from Corine LandCover 2006 (European Environmental Agency EEA)with a resolution of 100 x 100 m in program ArcGIS10 (ESRI 2013). All types of forests (deciduous,coniferous and mixed), scrub and grassland wereconsidered as suitable habitat, agrocoenosis andhuman settlements were considered unsuitablehabitat. The centres represented points in a squaregrid of 1.5 x 1.5 km (2.25 km 2 ).To determine the size of the sample area (“statespace”), a buffer zone was added to the minimumconvex polygon (MCP) formed by camera stationlocations (sampled area), whose width (3, 6, 9 and15 km) was tested using the design of Avgan et al.(2014). Chain convergence was tested usingGelman-Rubin's test (Gelman et al. 2004). Theestimate of lynx population density was expressedas the number of individuals/100 km 2 of suitablehabitat.ResultsDuring both forms of monitoring in the tworeference areas a total of 843 images of lynx wereobtained. In the period 2013–2015 a total of 20different individuals were identified in theŠtiavnica Mts. and 14 in Veľká Fatra.In the Štiavnica Mts. a total of 7 independentlynx were captured in 48 pictures and 30 occasionsduring intensive deterministic monitoring in winter2013/2014 (Fig. 2). Captures were made at 16 of 44________________________________________________________________________________________Monitoring Lynx lynx carpathicus, Rigg & Kubala (2015) 44