DOI: 10.5061/dryad.573n5tbhw
title: Dataset: Long-term changes in survival of Eurasian lynx in three reintroduced populations in Switzerland

description: For conservation or management programs, basic data on vital rates are
 important but often hard to acquire for long-lived and elusive wildlife
 species such as large carnivores. In this study, we analysed long-term
 changes in survival rates for different sexes and age classes (juvenile,
 subadult, adult) in three reintroduced Swiss lynx populations (Alps, Jura,
 Northeastern Switzerland). A novel modelling approach allowed us to
 combine picture data from camera-trapping and lynx pictures resulting from
 chance observations, telemetry data and dead-recoveries over a monitoring
 period of 25 years (1997–2022). Mean annual survival of adult lynx varied
 between 0.71 and 0.81 for males and between 0.70 and 0.85 for females.
 Mean survival of subadults ranged between 0.59 and 0.89 among populations.
 Juvenile survival was highly variable and low on average (&lt; 0.4).
 Our findings highlight that unknown sources of mortality exist in some
 populations and that future studies on mortality causes and potential
 effects of inbreeding on survival are needed to ensure long-term
 conservation of the lynx in Switzerland. Our study can serve as a basis
 for future studies on population viability and conservation threats to the
 species in human-dominated landscapes and demonstrates the complexity and
 high variation of survival between different age and sex classes in space
 and time, potentially leading to source sink dynamics.
description: see html files provided with the data
description: # Dataset: Long-term changes in survival of Eurasian lynx in three
 reintroduced populations in Switzerland
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.573n5tbhw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.573n5tbhw) ## Description of the data and file structure This data was created for analyses of the long-term development of survival rates for different sexes and age classes in three reintroduced Swiss lynx populations (Alps, Jura, Northeastern Switzerland (NECH)). We upload a folder for each population (ALPS, JURA, NECH) which contains subfolders for data and jags code and a html file titled 'Supplementary materials & README_' which contains further information on data preparation, variable names, R code, model estimates and supplementary information for the related article. The data file 'datax_' contains capture histories in 2-month occasions based on picture data from camera-trapping and chance observations, telemetry data and dead-recoveries over a monitoring period of 25 years (1997–2022). The data file 'data_ageatdeath' contains data on age at death for dead recoveries for a BTO model. Variable names in both datafiles are explained in the corresponding 'Supplementary materials & README_' file for each population (ALPS, JURA, NECH). ## Code/software The R code for this analysis is provided in the html file 'Supplementary materials and README_' for each population. The jags code for the model is provided in the subfolder 'jags code' provided with the data for each population ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the data: Telemetry data is accessible via the EUROLYNX network under the corresponding terms of use