Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is mostly nocturnal species and spends daytime mostly sleeping and resting. Micro-habitat selection of lynx resting sites is still a poorly researched topic, although it has an important role in the ecology of this species. The goal of the present thesis was to describe characteristics of daily lynx resting places in Slovenian Dinaric Mountains and investigate which relief structures and which types of vegetation lynx select for their resting site in respect to their availability. The study included a field surveys of daily resting sites that were determined unsing GPS telemetry collars and snow tracking. We also surveyed the same number of random control locations created within the territory of the same lynx. Various parameters were described at the locations describing the vegetation, several topographic and relief features and visibility. A total of 217 lynx resting sites of 8 different individuals and an equal number of random locations were sampled. The field work was taking place in Snežnik and Javorniki forests, Velika and Mala gora and Stojna. Differences between lynx resting places and random locations, as well as differences between resting places near prey and resting places without prey, were analyzed using univariate and multi-variant analyses. With the use of general linear mixed model (GLMM) we found that lynx selected locations with steeper slopes, greater terrain diversity, lower visibility, larger distance to human objects and sites located on top of ridges and hilltops. The lynx also selected juvenile forests and bushes, which is probably related with better cover. When comparing daily resting sites with or without presence of prey remains, we observed more pronounced selection at resting sites without prey, although the differences were mostly small. Our results are mostly comparable to conclusions of research on resting sites of lynx and other felids in other countries, while some aspects we studied for the first time. Some of our results could be used for more effective conservation of habitats important for lynx, for example when planning construction of new infrastructure in forest landscape.
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