|
|
MOSAIC OF YOUNG AND OLD FORESTS- HABITAT FOR THE FEDERALLY-THREATENED CANADA LYNX- High elevation landscapes in the Northern Rockies tend to be cool and moist with a relatively short growing season. Within these high elevation forests, wildfires occur infrequently, and these forests, as result, tend to become very dense. Occasionally, during combinations of drought and high winds, wildfires do occur, although the interval between fires may be a century or more. When fires do burn under such conditions, they tend to be severe, often killing most of the trees across large landscapes. After the fires, new stands of trees regenerate creating even-aged stands of conifers. Over time, as this process is repeated, high elevation forests develop a mosaic of even-aged stands, including some young stands, some old stands, and some recently-burned. The Canada lynx is a species that is dependent on such mosaics of young and old forest. Lynx forage for varying hares, the lynx's primary prey, in dense stands of young trees. They den in pockets of downed logs, usually associated with old stands. Fire suppression has had a potentially severe effect on lynx. Naturally-occurring stands of young trees, important for supporting large numbers of varying hares, are no longer being recruited by wildfires at the rate they did historically. Analyses suggest that whereas young stands comprising lynx foraging habitat were historically present on about 19% of the high-elevation landscape, today are only present on about 4.5% of the landscape. This may partially explain why lynx populations have declined in the northern Rockies. Other factors, including human disturbance, snow compaction from winter recreation, trapping, or even a succession of warmer-than-normal winters may also have contributed to the lynx's recent decline. If you'd like to learn more about the lynx click on……… |
