Determining the Abundance of Canada Lynx
Once the presence of a species is documented, the next question that naturally arises is how abundant is it? It is relatively easy to determine abundance for common species such as white-tailed deer. However, for a species such as Canada lynx, which is rare by definition (a Threatened Species under the ESA), making a quantitative estimate of abundance is a more difficult problem. Canada lynx are not hunted or trapped in Minnesota so there is no way to use harvest estimates to estimate abundance, and it is not possible to do an aerial census on a small, rare carnivore.
We will use several methods to estimate abundance, aiming for a consistent estimate of abundance among the different methods. The first method will be a track count survey following a protocol developed in Montana (Squires 2002) and further tested in Maine (Vashon et al. 2003). The second method will be a mark-recapture analysis of genetic material obtained from scat and hair samples collected throughout the Superior National Forest on our study sites. The genetic analysis of lynx material was pioneered by the Carnivore Genetics Laboratory of the U.S. Forest Service in Missoula, Montana. We are working with this laboratory for genetic analysis of samples. Finally, we are testing an automatic camera survey protocol on one of our intensive study sites in the Superior National Forest. The camera survey protocol will again utilize mark-recapture analysis to estimate population density.
We realize that the estimation of abundance will be localized within portions of the Superior National Forest. With more resources it would be possible to conduct estimates of abundance over more of the forest. By developing these protocols in our core study sites, it will be possible to estimate abundance in other areas in the future.