Research overview: Canada lynx range limits and climate sensitivity

This overview examines the southern range limit of the Canada lynx and its vulnerability to climate change. The species is closely tied to boreal forest with deep, persistent snow and abundant snowshoe hares, and its distribution thins and fragments toward the southern edge in the contiguous United States, where populations are of particular conservation concern. Research links the range boundary to snow conditions that favor lynx over bobcats and to hare availability. Warming that reduces snowpack and shifts hare distributions is projected to push the lynx niche northward and contract southern populations. Understanding these climate-driven limits is central to conserving peripheral populations and to anticipating how the species range may reshape over coming decades.