Management and conservation implications
The positive effect of wolf and lynx presences on detection of one
another, high levels of co-occupancy in winter, and high levels of
conditional occupancy in both seasons (higher occupancy probability when
other species is present), for lynx and wolf provide little evidence of
interference competition between these apex predators. This corroborates
findings from other studies assessing interactions between co-occurring
felids and canids that overlap in resource use. For example, Wikenros et
al. (2010) assessed the effects of a recolonizing wolf population on
resident lynx in Sweden and found that lynx demographics were unaffected
by the presence of wolf. A greater body of literature focuses on the
interactions between two similar species, the sympatric bobcat
(Lynx rufus ) and coyote (Canis latrans ), in North America.
A review of literature on this topic reveals a similar story to that of
lynx and wolf in the Carpathians, whereby bobcats and coyotes coexist
and exhibit little interference competition in most of their range
likely due to specialization on different prey and mediation via use of
heterogenous habitats (Dyck et al., 2022). Efforts to reintroduce or
augment Eurasian lynx populations also exist in Europe (e.g., Slovenia,
Croatia; https://www.lifelynx.eu/). In this context, resident wolf
populations should not affect the introduction efforts given that prey
base can support both species, and releases occur in highly forested but
less topographically fragmented areas. Additionally, our findings also
suggest that apex predators have little negative effects on the
mesocarnivore, wildcat. This information is useful for management given
that wolves are recolonizing their former range in Europe (Chapron et
al., 2014). Our findings suggest that wolf would not have negative
impacts on wildcat given enough suitable habitat is available, due to
low overlap in diet. In summary, studying intraguild interactions in an
intact system has enabled us to observe and quantify intraspecific
interactions among carnivores where they have co-existed and co-evolved
for centuries. This provides insight into their potential long-term
dynamics for areas where they are recovering naturally or recovering
through rewilding efforts. While our study did not include the summer
season, our results from two separate and partially overlapping autumn
and winter seasons suggest that competition between lynx, wildcat and
wolf is low. However, additional information on the richness and
abundance of the prey base, and the spatial and temporal relations
between predators and their prey can augment these findings and provide
additional management insights in the context of rewilding.