The Corn Belt Bobcat: How Lynx rufus Prefers To Move

Across A Fragmented Agricultural Landscape

Jared Collins Miami University, Oxford Ohio

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Lynx rufus: the BobcatA North American wild cat, twice the size of a domestic house cat.

The common name “bobcat” refers to its distinctive bobbed tail, generally of 3-5 inches in length.

Distinguished by its short, black ear tufts, a black-tipped tail, and a spotted coat of dense hair that varies in color, from brownish-gray to reddish-brown.

Bobcats are generalist carnivores that prey on rabbits and hares, as well as squirrels, mice, rats, voles, raccoons, opossums and even deer.

Bobcats play a key ecological role as opportunistic predators that routinely feed on sick and injured animals that may pose a health risk to humans and wildlife alike.

Mark Colin/Courtesy Tallahassee Museum

Preferred Bobcat Habitat• Bobcats make use of a wide array of habitat types, preferring to make their home in areas of dense ground cover.

• A tall-grass expanse of open prairie, the brushy undergrowth of open woodland, or the rocky outcrops of semi-desert, all tend to meet their needs.

Retrieved from http://naturenarratives.com/tag/bobcat-kittens

Retrieved from http://www.grit.com/animals/bobcats-widespread-in-the-us.aspx#axzz2kpuFucUD

Bobcat Distribution• There are 12 recognized bobcat subspecies.

• Bobcats were once found in all 48 of the contiguous states of the Union.

• They are now conspicuously absent from the American Corn Belt.

• Yet, they still ranges widely across the southern half of the continent, from southern Canada to central Mexico.

Retrieved from http://wren.aps.uoguelph.ca/apsblog/msparks/2012/03/20/distrubution-and-range/

Outline of Gap in Bobcat Distribution• The blue outline depicts the conspicuous gap in bobcat distribution.

• Historic records indicate the bobcat was once common in this region.

• What could be the cause of the bobcat’s decline in the Midwest?

The American Corn Belt• Could it be related to the human-defined agricultural landscape that characterizes the American Corn Belt?

• The Corn Belt stretches from eastern Ohio to western Nebraska, and from southern Illinois to northern Minnesota.

• The landscape of this region is dominated by corn and soybean production systems.

Outline of the American Corn Belt• The black outline depicts the agricultural region of the American Midwest that is dominated by corn and soybean production systems.

• Could it be that the human-defined transformation of this landscape has negatively affected the lifestyle of the bobcat?

Overlay of Bobcat Distribution Gap and Corn Belt

Gap in Bobcat Distribution

Corn Belt

• Representation of an apparent geographic relationship between the bobcat distribution gap and the regional expanse of corn-based landscape fragmentation.

The Corn Belt: A Fragmented Landscape

• A large portion of the Corn Belt was converted from contiguous tracts of native woodland or grassland to vast expanses of clearly defined agricultural units.

• Presently, this landscape does not provide the permanent ground cover that bobcats need for the purposes of hiding and hunting.

• While islands of remnant forest may still harbor bobcat populations, these meta-populations will slowly disappear as their “island” refuges become smaller, and dispersing individuals fail to establish viable home ranges.

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Preferred Bobcat Movement Terrain• Bobcats require zones of thick ground cover as they stealthily move about in search of prey or potential mates.

• Bobcats make use of natural corridors, such as gallery forests and riparian buffers as they make their way through the hostile Corn Belt landscape.

• Bobcats also tend to move through soft edge habitat adjacent to open cropland, occasionally crossing the open spaces that dominate these agricultural landscapes.

• How can we better foster bobcat movement across a fragmented landscape, and turn a hostile environment into hospitable habitat?

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Retrieved from http://www.ontarionature.org/onnature/coverstory.html

Agroforestry To Foster Bobcat Movement• Agroforestry: A system of land management involving the simultaneous cultivation of farm crops and tree crops.

• A form of polyculture that ensures a continuous food supply, some continuous economic return, and the avoidance of soil degradation.

• Creates soft edge corridors with plenty of ground cover that provide habitat for a variety of wildlife, and pathways of movement for wide-ranging animals such as bobcats and foxes.

• Agroforestry techniques include tree crop windbreaks, alley cropping, and strip cropping.

Retrieved from http://extension.unh.edu/fwt/tafw/Making_Habitat_Happen.htm

Tree Crop Windbreaks• Plant fast growing tree and shrub crops as windbreaks.

• Produce harvested from these crops may be popular at local markets, and can provide farmers an alternative source of income.

• Windbreaks protect crops from excessive wind-driven moisture loss, and protect cropland from wind erosion.

• Windbreaks also provide habitat for local wildlife (bobcat prey), and may facilitate the movement of bobcats and other wide-ranging animals.

Retrieved from http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/PC_95003.html

Retrieved from http://comet2.colostate.edu

Alley and Strip Cropping

• Alley cropping: Plant single-row strips of trees or shrubs within traditional cropland systems.

• This technique may improve crop production, reduce wind and water erosion, promote income diversity and enhance wildlife diversity.

• Strip cropping: Combines and broadens the windbreak and alley cropping techniques.

• Multiple-row strips of tree and shrub crops widely spaced to act as windbreaks, and provide cash crops that are suitable for local markets.

Retrieved from http://www.aftaweb.org/alley_cropping.php

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Land and Resource Conservation Programs• Conservation easements and land trusts can effectively increase wildlife habitat, as well as improve water quality, enhance groundwater supplies, limit soil erosion and reduce damage caused by natural disasters.

• The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is one such program, created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), that provides financial incentives to farmers and landowners who wish to devote portions of their land to conservation management initiatives.

• The CRP encourages farmers to convert environmentally sensitive acreage and highly erodible cropland to permanent vegetative cover that provides food and shelter for native wildlife.

• The long-term goal of the program is to re-establish sizable zones of valuable land cover, in the form of riparian corridor, second-growth forest and native grassland linkage structures, that protect both natural resources and native wildlife.

Defragmentation: From Hostile To Hospitable

A vast expanse of land once hostile to wildlife, can again become hospitable with a little time and care.

Thank You !

Please direct any questions and comments to Jared Collins at:collin37@miamioh.edu