Abstract Similar to trends across the eastern United States, the central Appalachian Mountains were nearly entirely deforested by the early 20th century, then regenerated with a drastically altered disturbance regime. Forests found across much of the region today share little resemblance to the forest communities in which native wildlife evolved, including bobcats (Lynx rufus), a species adapted to stalking and ambushing prey in dense concealment cover. Managers implement efforts to restore historical forest structure and create wildlife habitat using prescribed fire, timber harvest, and maintained clearings. We developed resource selection functions utilizing GPS telemetry data from 9 bobcats (6 male, 3 female) monitored in 2018–2019 to investigate how prescribed fire, timber harvest, and forest edge may influence 3rd order (i.e. within home range) resource selection of bobcats in the Appalachian Mountains of western Virginia, USA. We found that bobcats selected for forest-edge, fire-created canopy openings, and recently harvested forest stands, and avoided the forest interior. Bobcats are likely selecting for these areas because of increased prey and cover. The comparatively widespread use of fire in this study area has allowed novel insight into the effects of prescribed fire on bobcat space use and demonstrates the ecological importance of future efforts to restore historical fire cycles in the Appalachians. As one of the largest carnivores in Appalachian ecosystems and the only wild felid remaining in the region, we suggest managers consider bobcat ecology when planning habitat management strategies and communicate those strategies to the public. Our results demonstrate that silvicultural practices that aim to mimic historical forest disturbance likely benefit native wildlife, as evident from selection of these treatments by bobcats in this system.

中文翻译：

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森林干扰对阿巴拉契亚中部山猫资源选择的影响

摘要 与美国东部的趋势相似，阿巴拉契亚山脉中部的森林在 20 世纪初期几乎完全被砍伐，然后以剧烈改变的干扰机制重新生成。今天在该地区大部分地区发现的森林与当地野生动物进化的森林群落几乎没有相似之处，包括山猫 (Lynx rufus)，一种适应在密集隐蔽处跟踪和伏击猎物的物种。管理人员通过使用规定的火灾、木材采伐和维护的空地，努力恢复历史森林结构并创造野生动物栖息地。我们利用 2018-2019 年监测的 9 只山猫（6 只雄性，3 只雌性）的 GPS 遥测数据开发了资源选择功能，以研究规定的火灾、木材采伐和森林边缘如何影响三阶（即 在家庭范围内）美国西弗吉尼亚州阿巴拉契亚山脉的山猫资源选择。我们发现山猫被选择用于森林边缘、火灾造成的树冠开口和最近收获的林分，并避开了森林内部。由于猎物和掩护增加，山猫可能会选择这些区域。该研究区域相对广泛地使用火，使人们对规定的火对山猫空间使用的影响有了新的认识，并证明了未来恢复阿巴拉契亚山脉历史火灾循环的努力的生态重要性。作为阿巴拉契亚生态系统中最大的食肉动物之一，也是该地区唯一的野生猫科动物，我们建议管理者在规划栖息地管理策略时考虑山猫生态，并将这些策略传达给公众。