Species Status Assessment CANADA LYNX
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Species Status Assessment for the CANADA LYNX (Lynx canadensis) Contiguous United States Distinct Population Segment Photo by Keith Williams Version 1.0 - Final October 2017 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regions 1, 3, 5 and 6 Recommended Citation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2017. Species Status Assessment for the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) Contiguous United States Distinct Population Segment. Version 1.0, October, 2017. Lakewood, Colorado. Credits This SSA report was produced by the Canada Lynx Species Status Assessment Team (Lynx SSA Team), which consists of a Core Team of Service biologists who work on lynx conservation across the DPS range and an SSA Framework Implementation Team of Service and U.S. Geological Survey staff who have developed and advanced the SSA framework. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lynx SSA Core Team Jim Zelenak (Lead), Region 6, Montana Ecological Services Field Office: Chapters/sections - Executive Summary, 1, 2, 3.1, 3.4, 6, and Units 3 and 5 Mark McCollough (Co-lead), Region 5, Maine Ecological Services Field Office: Sections - 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, and Unit 1 Kurt Broderdorp, Region 6, Western Colorado Ecological Services Field Office: Unit 6 Bryon Holt, Region 1, Northern Idaho Ecological Services Field Office: Unit 4 Tamara Smith, Region 3, Minnesota-Wisconsin Ecological Services Field Office: Unit 2 All Core Team members participated in development of conceptual models and reviewed and provided comments/edits on other sections of the SSA report. All members also helped identify and contact lynx expert panelist candidates and other subject matter experts and contributed to expert elicitation and the report of the Expert Elicitation Workshop (see Acknowledgments). SSA Framework Implementation Team Heather Bell, USFWS Headquarters, Ecological Services, Division of Restoration and Recovery Mary Parkin, USFWS Region 5, Endangered Species Recovery Coordinator Justin Shoemaker, USFWS Region 6, Classification and Recovery Biologist Jonathan Cummings, USGS - Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Research Ecologist The Framework Implementation Team (FIT) developed and facilitated the expert elicitation process. J. Cummings compiled, analyzed, graphed, and summarized the information generated via expert elicitation and created, with Core and FIT input, conceptual models presented in section 1.3. All FIT members contributed to the Executive Summary and sections 1.2 and 1.3, and all provided technical review and editing of other parts of the report. Administrative and Technical Support: Marigaye Bissell, Barbara Chavez, Kaimy Marks, and Karen Newlon, Montana Ecological Services Field Office. i Acknowledgments This report relies heavily on the input and professional opinions provided by a panel of 10 recognized lynx experts and captured during a formal Expert Elicitation Workshop held in Bloomington, Minnesota, October 13-15, 2015. Several other recognized lynx experts from Canada and the contiguous United States were invited but unable to participate. The workshop also was supported by and benefitted from the participation and presentations of other recognized experts in the fields of snowshoe hare ecology, lynx genetics, forest ecology, climate change modeling, and Federal lynx habitat management. Canada Lynx Expert Panel Members (alphabetically) Jeff Bowman, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, University of Trent, Ontario Susan Catton, USDA Forest Service - Superior National Forest, Duluth, MN Jake Ivan, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources, Fort Collins, CO Jay Kolbe, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, White Sulphur Springs, MT Benjamin Maletzke, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, WA Kevin McKelvey, USDA Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, MT Ron Moen, University of Minnesota, Natural Resources Research Institute, Duluth, MN Erin Simons-Legaard, University of Maine, School of Forest Resources, Orono, ME John Squires, USDA Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, MT Jennifer Vashon, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Bangor, ME Canada Lynx Expert Elicitation Workshop Presenters (alphabetically) Lee Frelich, University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology, St. Paul, MN Karen Hodges, University of British Columbia–Okanagan, Kelowna, BC Canada Scott Jackson, USDA Forest Service - National Carnivore Program Leader, Missoula, MT Josh Lawler, University of Washington School of Environmental & Forest Sciences, Seattle, WA Michael Schwartz, USDA Forest Service - National Genomics Center for Wildlife & Fish Conservation, Missoula, MT Alexej Siren, DOI Northeast Climate Science Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA Chad Wilsey, National Audubon Society, San Francisco, CA The Canada Lynx Expert Elicitation Workshop Report can be found here: https://www.fws.gov/mountain- prairie/es/species/mammals/lynx/SSA2016/Appendices/2016%2004%2018%20FINAL%20Lynx %20SSA%20EE%20Workshop%20Report%202%20jzeds.pdf Report appendices, expert presentations, and other supporting materials can be found under the “Species Status Assessment (SSA)” tab at: https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/canadaLynx.php ii This report also relies heavily on the Interagency Lynx Biology Team’s Canada Lynx Conservation Assessment and Strategy, 3rd Edition, August 2013: Interagency Lynx Biology Team. 2013. Canada lynx conservation assessment and strategy. 3rd edition. USDA Forest Service, USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, and USDI National Park Service. Forest Service Publication R1-13-19, Missoula, MT. 128 pp. http://www.fs.fed.us/biology/resources/pubs/wildlife/LCAS_revisedAugust2013.pdf. All Lynx SSA Core Team members participated in development and review of the revised LCAS. iii Table of Contents Credits .........................................................................................................................................i Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... iv Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Introduction ..............................................................................................................11 1.1 Background .....................................................................................................................11 1.2 SSA Framework and Report ............................................................................................14 1.3 Analytical Approach and Methods ...................................................................................16 1.4 Uncertainties and Assumptions .......................................................................................21 Chapter 2: Lynx Ecology ...........................................................................................................23 2.1 Species Taxonomy, Description, and Genetics ................................................................23 2.2 Life History and Population Dynamics .............................................................................26 2.2.1 Ecological Requirements of Individuals .....................................................................32 2.2.2 Ecological Requirements of Populations and the DPS ..............................................36 2.3 Historical and Current Lynx Distribution ...........................................................................38 2.3.1 Lynx Distribution and Status in Canada and Alaska ..................................................38 2.3.2 Lynx Distribution in the Contiguous United States .....................................................39 2.3.2.1 Defining Lynx Distribution at the Periphery of the Range ....................................39 2.3.2.2 Lynx Distribution within the DPS Range ..............................................................42 Chapter 3: Factors Influencing Viability of the DPS ...................................................................51 3.1 Regulatory Mechanisms ..................................................................................................52 3.1.1 Federal Regulatory Mechanisms ...............................................................................52 3.1.2 State Regulations and Tribal Management................................................................58 3.2 Climate Change ...............................................................................................................66 3.3 Vegetation Management ..................................................................................................83 3.4 Wildland Fire Management ..............................................................................................92 3.5 Habitat Loss and Fragmentation ......................................................................................96 Chapter 4: Current Conditions ................................................................................................. 105 4.1 Summary of Current Conditions DPS-wide ....................................................................106 4.1.1 Summaries of Current Conditions in Each Geographic Unit ....................................108 4.2 Current Conditions - Detailed Descriptions by Geographic