What impact does the lynx have on the ecosystem?

Lynx is a lovely cat. It looks like a cat, but it is different from ordinary domestic cats when you look closely. It's just bigger than an ordinary cat, with a bunch of black hair on its ears, just like two antennas.

Because of this feature, many people confuse it with caracal (another cat with a bunch of black hair on its ears). In fact, it is easy to distinguish between the two. Karakal's face is more like a puma, with no obvious spots on his body, while the lynx is like a cat with spots on his body.

Bobcats and Karakal

Traditionally, the development of lynx population is considered to be limited by wolves. After all, lynx and gray wolf are quite different in size, similar in feeding habits and have a strong competitive relationship in the same habitat. However, through long-term research on Eurasian lynx and gray wolf in Nalpoki forest in Belarus, experts found that in reality, it seems that the opposite is true, and almost all gray wolves have been found. There is no doubt that lynx's niche is much more complicated than we thought.

There is a broad sense and a narrow sense. In fact, the lynx we often say generally refers to the Eurasian lynx, that is, the common lynx, but if there are any animals in the world that can be called lynx, there are many, cats.

There are four species of lynx, namely Eurasian lynx (7 subspecies), Canadian lynx (3 subspecies), Iberian lynx (no subspecies differentiation) and bobtail cat (12).

Four kinds of lynx.

Eurasian lynx is the largest of the four species, but it is not much more than the other three. If we consider that geographical distribution will cause different body shapes, then this judgment condition is even more unreliable.

For example, we all know that pumas are smaller than leopards on average, but leopards living near Mexico are generally underweight, which is no different from local pumas. Even some male cougars are bigger than female cougars, which is a common phenomenon. Therefore, it is unreasonable for many popular science articles to say that Eurasian lynx can be judged by this method. The key is to start with their characteristics.

It should be the easiest to distinguish bobtail cats from the other three kinds of lynx. If the tail tip has white hair, it can basically be judged as a short-tailed cat, because both Eurasian lynx, Iberian lynx and Canadian lynx have black tail tips. In addition, the two tufts of hair on the ears of short-tailed cats are short, and the spots on the body are not obvious except for the head and limbs;

As the name implies, Iberian lynx only lives in Iberian Peninsula, so it is also called Southern European Lynx because it is located at the southernmost tip of Europe, and it is also called Spanish Lynx because its main habitat is in Spain. In fact, the physical appearance of most animals is influenced by the environment, so it is not difficult to guess from the geographical location of Iberian lynx that its hair is shorter and rougher than the other three kinds of lynx. On the whole, the coat color of Iberian lynx is yellowish brown or light yellow, with the densest spots and the blackest color.

The hair characteristics of Canadian lynx are just the opposite to those of Iberian lynx. Its hair is longer and thicker, and its color is light brown or gray. Does it look as a whole? Furry? Feeling, especially the sole of the foot, is the biggest of the four, which is beneficial for it to walk in the snow;

Eurasian lynx is the most common lynx, and it is also the only lynx distributed in China. Its coat color changes with the seasons, but it is reddish brown most of the time, and the back area is darker.

Lynx is neither too big nor too small, and most of them are concentrated between 7 and 25 kilograms. It looks like a bigger wild cat, so in some parts of our country, the lynx is often called? Beaver? 、? Wild raccoons? They like rabbits and mice, and occasionally prey on hoofed animals such as wild boar and deer. With the increasing influence of human life on wild animals, lynx in many areas also prey on poultry.

However, because of its unique feeding habits (liking rabbits too much) and its niche, lynx plays a very important role in the ecosystem.

Iberian lynx controls the spread of diseases. Iberian lynx once spread all over the Iberian peninsula and even extended northward to the south of France. However, since the beginning of the 20th century, due to various reasons, the number of Iberian lynx has greatly decreased. There were more than 4,000 in the 1960s, and 2 1 in the early 20th century.

The decline of Iberian lynx population is actually predictable and inevitable, although in the early days, a small number of farmers thought that they preyed on European rabbits, which limited the development of carnivores such as foxes. Beneficial beast? But in the eyes of most Europeans, they are carnivores that hurt their prey, because people like to hunt rabbits, and it happened that lynx hunted rabbits and hunted lynx crazily, which became a favorite thing at that time.

Distribution map of Iberian bobcats

In addition, with the continuous expansion of human life to deeper areas, roads have been built in most rural areas of Spain. These criss-crossing roads not only divide the habitat of Iberian lynx into pieces, but also bring the most important fatal factor for lynx in the future, that is? Road killing? .

With the development of traffic, more and more Iberian lynx died in traffic accidents, which even became the main threat to the abnormal death of lynx. According to statistics, in 20 13 years, there were 14 lynxes in Spain who died in traffic accidents.

Iberian lynx who died in a car accident

In fact, the reason why Iberian lynx will be endangered in the future is also related to an animal, that is, the European rabbit. Lynx is a cat that likes to hunt rabbits very much. In the season when rabbits appear in large numbers, rabbits will account for more than 95% of the total food sources of Iberian lynx. An adult male lynx needs to eat one rabbit every day, while a lactating female lynx needs to eat three rabbits every day.

The number of rabbits in Iberian Peninsula is very rich, even causing losses to many local farms. Armand Le, a professor of the French Medical Association, learned that Myxomatosis had a strong lethal effect on Australian rabbits, and introduced the virus into his manor on 1952, successfully killing 98% of rabbits in the manor. However, the virus spread uncontrollably in Iberia Peninsula, and later spread to other parts of Europe, resulting in a large number of deaths of European rabbits, ranking first in virus transmission.

Iberian lynx

The outbreak of this virus seems to be regular, and it will break out in rabbits every once in a while. In addition, rabbit hemorrhagic disease is also one of the diseases of rabbits, and it also presents a regular outbreak, so these two diseases gradually reduce the number of rabbits, and Iberian lynx, which is highly dependent on European rabbits, naturally greatly reduces the population.

At the same time, the decline in the number of rabbits will also increase the risk of accidental death of the lynx, because the low density of rabbits means that the lynx will go further and spend more time foraging, which will increase the number of times of crossing the road.

The fluctuation of the number of rabbits and lynx in Europe may be questioned by many people. Why do Iberian lynx prey on rabbits and play a role in disease control? This will start with its habits. The main food of Iberian lynx is rabbits, followed by some rodents and small ungulates. However, rabbits in Europe are extremely sick. These diseases will not only spread in rabbits, but also spread to some carnivores through the food chain. Coincidentally, Iberian lynx is not affected by this. On the contrary, those infected rabbits will be weaker.

European rabbit

European rabbits are very important to the ecosystem and are the basic prey of many carnivores in the system. Iberian lynx naturally played a role in disease control by preying on these infected rabbits and constantly eliminating virus carriers.

In addition, in the same habitat, foxes, mongooses and so on. There is a strong competitive relationship with Iberian lynx. By preying on them and their young, lynx limits their population development, which is a good effect for rabbits and relieves the survival pressure of European rabbits.

In a word, lynx is very important in many ecosystems of Iberian Peninsula. Protecting it means maintaining system balance, which is one of the important reasons why people are committed to restoring this species.

Eurasian lynx inhibits the development of wolf population. When it comes to lynx and wolves, many people may think that wolves are big and gregarious, which should be the biggest threat to lynx, but on the contrary, the existence of lynx limits the development of timberwolves.

Experts have long studied Eurasian lynx and grey wolf in Belarus forest, and found that lynx will inhibit the development of wolves by killing young wolves frequently, thus reducing its competitors in the forest, which subverts many people's cognition.

In the process of research, people only found the lynx killed by other lynx, and the wolf killed by lynx, but never found the lynx killed by the wolf:

During the period of 1997-20 15, two pregnant female wolves and eight young wolves were killed by lynx in PaArzel forest and Naliboki forest respectively. 2065438+In June 2006, a little wolf and a female wolf were killed by a lynx. During 20 16-20 17, a little wolf was killed by a lynx; 20 17 April, an adult male lone wolf died after fighting with a lynx. 2065438+May 2007, a pregnant female wolf was found in Naliboki forest, suspected to have been killed by a lynx. Maybe many people still don't believe that a little lynx can kill a wolf, but it's true. Lynx is an ambush hunter, good at fighting alone, and its target is also lone wolves, young wolves, or some female wolves.

Obviously, lynx will avoid wolves. Even the largest adult lynx will never provoke wolves. However, gray wolves living in the forest do not always live in groups.

From late September to mid-April of the following year, it is the cold season in the forest of Naliboki, and wolves will live in groups. However, from mid-April to late September, when the weather gets warmer, it is very common for gray wolves to live alone, which is a good time for lynx to attack.

Bobcats face adult wolves

The female wolf in the late pregnancy is very lonely, and the newborn cubs are very fragile, which is the target of the lynx. In addition, because animals avoid inbreeding, most gray wolves will leave their own family of origin to form or belong to their own wolves after they have the ability to live independently, and they are also easy to be killed by adult lynx when they leave the group and no new wolves are found.

It is found that adult lynx, especially male lynx, will kill a large number of pregnant female wolves, young wolves and sick vulnerable individuals on a regular basis, thus affecting wolf reproduction.

In some research areas of Naliboki forest, when the density of lynx is high, the development of wolves in the same habitat will stagnate, because a large number of cubs have been killed by lynx, and the mortality rate of wolf cubs is as high as 40%-60%, and even exceeds 90% in some areas.

A four-month-old wolf cub killed by a lynx.

In fact, whether it is a carnivore or a herbivore, exceeding the number that the system can bear is harmful to either side. For example, the proliferation of rabbits and wild cats in Australia is a living example. Eurasian lynx inhibited the development of gray wolves, which is essentially the same as Iberian lynx inhibited the population development of foxes.

In addition, the impact of Eurasian lynx and wolf on the ecosystem is not only reflected in each other, but also in the attitude of other animals to them.

In the northern part of Eurasia where there is no butch, grey wolves and Eurasian lynx have become the top predators here, so all animals are naturally quite afraid of them. However, a study of Eurasian lynx and Belarusian gray wolf shows that animals seem to be far more afraid of lynx than gray wolves.

Lynx labeled region

The number of lynx in Canada fluctuates with the number of white-booted rabbits. Canada's lynx also loves rabbits. In winter, except for some small animals, such as rodents, birds and young antelopes, white-booted rabbits basically occupy 90%-95% of their food sources. Canada lynx is widely distributed in North America, spanning almost the whole of Canada and Alaska and extending to the American part of the Rocky Mountains. Like other lynx, it has a lovely appearance and is bigger than a domestic cat. They crossed the Bering Strait from Eurasia to North America 85,000-80,000 years ago.

Canadian bobcat

In North America, Canada lynx walks 8-9 kilometers every day in search of food. Highly dependent on white-booted rabbits, it can be called the exclusive predator of white-booted rabbits. With the change of seasons, the proportion of white-booted rabbits in the diet of lynx is constantly changing, with an average of 35%-97% throughout the year.

When the number of rabbits decreases, the lynx in Canada will prey on grouse, squirrel, Thunderbird, vole and some hoofed animals to make up for this vacancy, but even so, the lynx will continue to look for white-booted rabbits tirelessly.

White boot rabbit

Like rabbits in Europe, rabbits in white boots are the basic prey in North America, and they are also the prey of many meat eaters. A study in Alaska found that when the number of white-booted rabbits decreases, the number of ungulates such as reindeer and Dor sheep will also decrease, because when rabbits are in short supply, carnivores such as lynx and red fox will increase the proportion of these animals.

In fact, in the same ecosystem, Canadian lynx has a greater impact on white-booted rabbits. As we all know, coyotes are also one of the predators of white-booted rabbits, but their feet are very small, which makes it inconvenient to walk in thick snow in winter, while the big feet of lynx have played a huge advantage.

Perhaps there is no difference when the number of white-booted rabbits is abundant, but when the number of white-booted rabbits decreases periodically, the daily predation time of lynx and coyote remains unchanged, but the number of rabbits killed by lynx obviously exceeds that of coyote.

In addition, with coyotes killing white-booted rabbits excessively (more than they can eat), the killing of lynx is obviously more reasonable, and overfishing rarely occurs, which is more conducive to the population development of white-booted rabbits and the stable operation and healthy development of the ecosystem.

Jungle Wolf

What is the strong relationship between Canadian lynx and white-booted rabbit? Perhaps we can see from a statistical table that when the number of white-booted rabbits fluctuates periodically every 9- 10 years, the number of lynx in Canada also changes. It is not difficult to understand that when the number of white-booted rabbits is large, it is extremely beneficial to the lynx, and at this time, the population development speed of the lynx will also accelerate.

With the increasing number of lynx, this is not good news for white-booted rabbits. They are bound to be hunted in large numbers and then gradually decrease;

When the number of white-booted rabbits decreases, it means food shortage, inter-species and intra-species competition increase, population development will be slow, and the number will also decrease;

When the number of lynx decreases, the survival pressure of white-booted rabbits is much smaller and will show an upward trend, so the number of lynx and white-booted rabbits shows periodic changes.

From this relationship, it is not difficult to see that even without human intervention, species can rely on the relationship between natural food chains to adjust each other and maintain relative balance.

The fluctuation of the number of white-booted rabbits affected the lynx in Canada.

Lynx's positioning is changing at any time. Sometimes the niche of a species is not static, but changes at any time. The change of niche may be related to environment or time.

For example, in the Iberian Peninsula, due to the lack of large carnivores such as tigers and leopards, Iberian lynx are local? King of beasts? For it, the niche at this time, like the tiger and leopard in Asia, has played a regulatory role in the development of other species in the local ecosystem.

Iberian lynx is more like an umbrella species. Once it is missing, it will break the original ecological balance and protect it, which will also protect other local species and even the entire habitat.

In fact, there are many examples of relying on lynx to inhibit the development of other animal populations. For example, the lynx reintroduced from Germany has performed very well in this respect.

In addition, many forest deer are flooding in Britain, which has seriously damaged the saplings in the forest. Therefore, it is planned to reintroduce Eurasian lynx to control the number of deer, thus indirectly protecting the trees in the forest and making the local ecosystem reach a high and relatively stable state.

Compared with Iberian lynx, the niche of Canadian lynx seems to be not so high, because there are pumas and North American gray wolves on it, especially when the climate is warming, which makes the living space of lynx and pumas and North American gray wolves overlap more. The niche of Canada lynx is more like a leopard in Asia and Africa. Although not the highest, it is equally important.

It is easy to understand that the niche of species changes with the development of time. For example, in some forests in China, the tiger and leopard used to live, but with the development of human life, the tiger and leopard gradually withdrew from the forest, making the original? Unknown? Did the Asian Golden Cat advance to the new session? King of beasts? At this time, the niche of Asian golden cats has changed a lot. For example, in southern Sweden, after the grey wolf returned to this area in 1983, the niche of Eurasian lynx will also change because of the arrival of the wolf.

In fact, the most direct way to explore the impact of lynx on the system is to start with the food chain, because the food chain relationship of lynx is relatively simple, mainly preying on small and medium-sized animals in the same habitat. From the above description, it is not difficult to see that three species of lynx play an important role in their respective ecosystems, and they may be able to control diseases among species.