130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Figure 1a.
Distribution of
the Iberian lynx
pre-1900 [40] , in
1960 [32] and 2008 [21]
in Spain. No data
were available for
Portugal. Please note
that the pre-1900
map represents an
approximation of
actual range and may
differ in resolution
from maps for other
time periods.
Figure 1b.
Map highlighting
areas of range
expansion,
persistence and
contraction of
the Iberian lynx in
Europe between
1960 and 2008.
Please note that
due to differences in
resolution, the range
change depicted may
not be accurate.
an estimated carrying capacity that is 2–3 times
higher than that of Doñana [29] . Individuals from
this population have been released into Doñana
to increase the genetic variability of the local
population [30, 31] .
Abundance and distribution: changes
In line with the significant range reduction
reported to have occurred after the mid-19 th
century [32] , the lynx’s range decreased by 43%
between pre-1900 and 1960 (Figure 1a). By this
time, the species was relatively rare in the north
but remained abundant in the centre and south
of Spain [33] . The latter half of the 20 th century saw
another drastic reduction (Figures 1a and b). At this
point, the Iberian lynx occupied just over 1% of its
historical range in Europe. This decline is comparable
to Figures reported elsewhere, which quote a
range loss of 80% between 1960 and 1990 [12] , of 88%
from 1985–89 to 1999–2001 [7, 8] and a 98% decline in
distribution area during the second half of the 20 th
century [8, 34, 35] .
114