Conclusion

The southern range in Ontario is strongly driven by the boreal lynx population dynamics and this may mean that migration of lynx south of the Canada-USA border will become increasingly infrequent, since lynx in the boreal forest of Ontario have not recently reached the high numbers they once did. This is even more true given how average annual snow decreases southward across the border. Canada lynx in the northern US Great Lakes states are likely to require populations that are locally sustained, rather than maintained through a rescue effect, as we anticipate that sufficient southward migration will continue to be rare in the future due to reduced amplitude of lynx fluctuations and changing environmental conditions.