Outcomes of the lynx telemetry monitoring in the Beskydy Mountains
26.4.2022, Selmy.cz, Transport Research Centre
More than a year of GPS tracking of five male lynx in the Beskydy Mountains has yielded the first results. Researchers from Mendel University have mapped what routes lynx use to move around. Telemetry monitoring also showed which sections are critical in terms of connectivity for large carnivores and need to be specially protected. Friends of the Earth Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA Olomouc) also use camera traps to monitor the landscape permeability in the Beskydy and Kysuce Mountains as part of the international project SaveGREEN [1], of which the Transport Research Centre is a partner. Today, Hnutí DUHA Olomouc staff and volunteers continued to work on restoring the migration corridor of large carnivores and other animals near the town of Jablunkov. They removed protective fencing from the guiding vegetation, which will now be fully functional.
Hnutí DUHA Olomouc removed protective fencing from the trees planted in the migration corridor in 2013 and 2014. Source: Ivo Dostál, Transport Research Centre
In 2010, Jablunkov councillors were the first to decide to protect the nearby migration corridor for large mammals in their zoning plans as a non-building area [2]. “The migration routes of endangered species such as wolves, lynx, bears and other animals lead down from the Silesian Beskydy Mountains, under the I/11 road bridge, across an agricultural area and through a railway underpass to the Beskydy Protected Landscape Area. Several years ago [3], together with the town of Jablunkov and the Gírová hunting association, we arranged for the planting of guiding vegetation between the road bridge and the underpass,” said Radek Kříček, head of the SaveGREEN project at Hnutí DUHA Olomouc. The greenery will help the elusive animals to find a safe way across the Jablunkov depression and provide food and shelter. “To date, we have removed protective fencing from almost all the replanted areas. Thus, the corridor can start serving its full purpose, Kříček added.
The migration corridor continues under the road bridge and connects the Silesian and Moravian-Silesian Beskids. Source: Friends of the Earth Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA Olomouc)
Additionally, the construction of a new ecoduct is due to start in 2024 at the nearby village Mosty u Jablunkova [4]. This will be the first green bridge in the Czech Republic that might also be used by bears. The ecoduct is to be built near the border crossing to the Slovak town of Svrčinovec and put into operation in 2025. At the same time, another green bridge is to be built on the Slovak side of the border near Svrčinovec.
The first results from the telemetry tracking of five male lynx in the Beskydy Mountains show how crucial the possibility of unrestricted movement through the landscape is for the conservation of large carnivores. The monitoring was carried out by researchers from Mendel University for more than a year as part of the SaveGREEN project to protect the landscape permeability. “Telemetry monitoring has provided us with a number of valuable insights. The lynx moved over a large area. Home ranges of resident individuals ranged from 212 to 364 km2. The subadult male Eman moved over an area of more than 2,000 km2 between Lipník nad Bečvou and Čadca in search of new territory,” outlined the preliminary results Martin Duľa, a zoologist at the Institute of Forest Ecology at Mendel University in Brno.
Young lynx Eman moved over an area of more than 2,000 km2. Source: FFWT Mendelu
“We have identified several critical points that are crucial in terms of population connectivity and also the movement of animals within their home ranges. One of them is the Pindula Pass. The male lynx Květoslav has crossed the first-class road there with a traffic volume of about 8,000 cars per day at least 20 times. More than 200 lynx’s prey were tracked, with roe deer being the predominant at 80%. We continue to process detailed results on spatiotemporal and foraging activity,” commented Duľa. The Transport Research Centre is cooperating on the interpretation of the results.
Hnutí DUHA Olomouc is also carrying out extensive photomonitoring of endangered carnivores within the scope of the SaveGREEN project. The results have already demonstrated the functionality of some previously identified migration corridors which could be disrupted by planned construction projects with harmful effects for nature conservation. “Last year, with the use of camera traps, we were able to map the journey of a young female lynx born in the Beskydy Mountains. It repeatedly crossed the Lyský Pass separating Javorníky Mountains from the White Carpathians with the first-class road and the double-track railway. In the future, the planned R49 expressway is to pass through the pass. It is a crucial point for maintaining the connectivity between the Beskydy Protected Landscape Area and the adjacent peripheral parts of the Western Carpathians, such as the White Carpathians or the Hostýnské and Vizovické Hills,” said Michal Bojda, a field worker of Hnutí DUHA Olomouc.
Photomonitoring has identified the Lyský Pass as one of the important points for the movement of large carnivores. One of the animals regularly crossing here was the female lynx Žakelína. Source: Friends of the Earth Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA Olomouc)
“In the case of animals dispersing over long distances, such as wolves, lynx or bears, it is not enough to protect core areas alone. The most critical places are in the adjacent intensively populated valleys. Thus, for the Beskydy populations, in addition to the valleys within the mountain range itself, it is important to maintain connectivity in the Lower and Upper Moravian valleys (with the D55 and D1 roads under construction), the Moravian Gate (D1) and, on the Slovak side, in the Kysuce valley (D3) and the Váh valley (D1),” commented Ivo Dostál, a researcher at the Transport Research Centre, on the traffic situation in the pilot area.
Contacts:
Radek Kříček, head of the SaveGREEN project at Hnutí DUHA Olomouc
E-mail: radek.kricek@hnutiduha.cz
Phone: +420 723 435 156
Martin Duľa, a zoologist at the Institute of Forest Ecology, Mendel University in Brno
E-mail: martin.dula@mendelu.cz
Phone: +420 770 137 635
Michal Bojda, a field worker at Hnutí DUHA Olomouc
E-mail: michal.bojda@hnutiduha.cz
Phone: +420 734 233 993
Notes:
The SaveGREEN project, funded by the European Union (ERDF) through the Interreg Danube Transnational Cooperation Programme (DTP), addresses the critical issue of ecological corridors in the Carpathian and other mountain ranges in the Danube region. See more information here.
[2] See more information here.
[3] See more information here.
[4] See official information leaflet for construction.
