DOI: 10.5061/dryad.zgmsbcc6d
title: Data from: Climate connectivity of the bobcat in the Great Lakes region

description: The Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River are imposing barriers for
 wildlife and the additive effect of urban and agricultural development
 that dominates the lower Great Lakes region likely further reduces
 functional connectivity for many terrestrial species. As the climate warms
 species will need to track climate across these barriers. It is important,
 therefore, to investigate land cover and bioclimatic hypotheses that may
 explain the northward expansion of species through the Great Lakes. We
 investigated the functional connectivity of a vagile generalist, the
 bobcat, as a representative generalist forest species common to the
 region. We genotyped tissue samples collected across the region at 14
 microsatellite loci and compared different landscape hypotheses that might
 explain the observed gene flow or functional connectivity. We found that
 the Great Lakes and the additive influence of forest stands with either
 low or high canopy cover and deep lake-effect snow have disrupted gene
 flow, whereas intermediate forest cover has facilitated gene flow.
 Functional connectivity in southern Ontario is relatively low and was
 limited in part by the low amount of forest cover. Pathways across the
 Great Lakes were through the Niagara region and through the Lower
 Peninsula of Michigan over the Straits of Mackinac and the St. Mary’s
 River. These pathways are important routes for bobcat range expansion
 north of the Great Lakes and are also likely pathways that many other
 mobile habitat generalists must navigate to track the changing climate.
 The extent to which species can navigate these routes will be important
 for determining the future biodiversity of areas north of the Great Lakes.
description: From 2012 to the end of
 2017, we collected bobcat pelts samples from the North American Fur
 Auction (NAFA), Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF),
 researchers, and trappers. We followed the lab protocols and scoring
 methodology of Koen et al. (2014) and Row et al. (2012) and genotyped
 bobcat samples at 14 microsatellite loci (Fca031, Fca035, Fca043, Fca077,
 Fca090, Fca096, Fca441, Fca391, Fca559, Lc106, Lc109, Lc110, Lc111,
 Lc118). We removed individuals that had any missing loci and individuals
 that were not correctly georeferenced. Koen, E. L., Bowman,
 J., Murray, D. L., & Wilson, P. J. (2014a). Climate change reduces
 genetic diversity of Canada lynx at the trailing range edge.
 <i>Ecography</i>, <i>37</i>(8), 754–762.
 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2013.00629.x
 Row, J. R.,
 Gomez, C., Koen, E. L., Bowman, J., Murray, D. L., & Wilson, P. J.
 (2012). Dispersal promotes high gene flow among Canada lynx populations
 across mainland North America. <i>Conservation Genetics</i>,
 <i>13</i>(5), 1259–1268.
 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-012-0369-3
description: sample: Sample code.     Long, Lat: Geographic
 coordinates in NAD83.      X, Y: Geographic coordinates
 in North America Lambert Conformal Conic.    
 Year.of.Auction: Year the sample was taken at an auction house or
 from a trapper.  Microsatellite markers: Fca31, Fca35,
 Fca391, Fca43, Fca441, Fca559, Fca77, Fca90, Fca96, Lc106, Lc109, Lc110,
 LC111, Lc118.