Using a model validated by historic records, researchers first found that in 1900, Canada lynx had more suitable habitat in the U.S. than the few northern corners of the country where they are found currently. The study showed the elusive big cat likely roamed over a larger area in the Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes region and parts of New England.
Having a more accurate picture of a species' past can also help avoid an effect known as"shifting baseline syndrome," Thornton added, which is a gradual change in what people accept as normal for the environment, or specifically in this case, a species' habitat. Thornton and co-author Dennis Murray of Trent University in Canada created the model using factors to determine lynx's suitable habitat like temperature, precipitation and land use in the last 40 years. They ran that model back in time to 1900 using historic climate and land use data to discover the possible past range, which they validated using records of lynx from museums as well as hunters and trappers who have prized the big cat for its fur.
The researchers also hope that this approach to estimating historic range could help inform conservation efforts for other species.