This data set is one of the outputs of Carlos Carrol's work on focal species in the Northern Appalachians. Static habitat suitability models for lynx, marten, and wolf were fed through a spatially explicit population model (SEPM), called PATCH, to predict source and sink habitat areas across the landscape. The static models for lynx were created based on the ratio of deciduous to coniferous forest and on annual snowfall rates. Predicted snowfall rates for 2055 were based on modeling work done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). PATCH was then able to use these static habitat models to simulate a number of scenarios, including variations in trapping intensity, forestry intensity, and weather patterns due to climate change.
This data layer illustrates an increased trapping scenario: potential lynx source and sink habitat with population cycling only in the Gaspe peninsula, and survival in Gaspé and central Québec population set at 90% of base level. When used in comparison with the scenario modeling population cycling only in the Gaspe, this data layer can show the potential effect of trapping on lynx populations in the Northern Appalachians