Winter Habitat Selection by Canada Lynx in Maine: Prey Abundance or Accessibility?

We related winter habitat selection by Canada lynx ( Lynx canadensis ), relative abundance of snowshoe hares ( Lepus americanus ), and understory stem densities to evaluate whether lynx select stands with the greatest snowshoe hare densities or the greatest prey accessibility. Lynx (3 F, 3 M) selected tall (4.4‐7.3 m) regenerating clear‐cuts (11‐26 yr postharvest) and established partially harvested stands (11‐21 yr postharvest) and selected against short (3.4‐4.3 m) regenerating clear‐cuts, recent partially harvested stands (1‐10 yr), mature second‐growth stands (>40 yr), and roads and their edges (30 m on either side of roads). Lynx selected stands that provided intermediate to high hare density and intermediate cover for hares (i.e., prey access) but exhibited lower relative preference for stand types with highest hare densities where coniferous saplings exceeded 14,000 stems/ha.