Proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop - Carnivore ...

Novel Spatial Tools for Connectivity Conservation: A Case Study Using
Cougars in Southern California
Rick A. Hopkins, Live Oak Associates, Inc., 6840 Via del Oro, Suite 220, San Jose, CA
95119, USA, rhopkins@loainc.com
Brett G. Dickson, Center for Environmental Sciences and Education, Northern Arizona
University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA, brett.dickson@nau.edu
Brad H. McRae, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street,
Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA, brad.mcrae@gmail.com
ABSTRACT Additional management of cougars (Puma concolor) in North America
focuses almost entirely on reducing conflicts with humans by reducing cougar
populations – the kill strategy. While conservation is often mentioned or inferred within
a statewide program to traditionally manage cougars, explicit strategies to achieve longterm
conservation goals for the species are simply not discussed. There appears to be an
overly simplistic presumption that as long as sport-take (or other control) efforts are
sustainable, then conservation has been achieved. We argue that these “traditional kill
strategies” not only do little to reduce conflict, but more importantly do little to conserve
the species. In truth, the conservation of wide-ranging taxa depends critically on
planning efforts that consider both habitat and connectivity needs of the target species.
Fragmented landscapes that include expansive areas of urbanization can further
complicate analyses and realistic conservation goals. Despite these challenges,
contemporary efforts tend to rely on overly-simplistic decision rules and tools (e.g., GIS
overlays, least-cost pathways, etc.). We believe the use of theoretically grounded spatial
tools that permit a more integrated analysis of the landscape are needed in order to
produce defensible land-use plans. We will present a suite of habitat and landscape
connectivity models that were developed to better inform long-term conservation
strategies for cougars in a highly fragmented region of southern California. The models
were developed within the 35,000 km 2 study area using empirical and expert-based
information to derive spatially-explicit models of core and dispersal habitats. These
models were then integrated to predict important linkage zones among core areas using
models from electronic circuit theory (i.e., Circuitscape), which predicts movement
probabilities given the quality and configuration of dispersal habitat between core areas.
Probabilistic model outputs were used to quantitatively compare the value of alternative
pathways, and evaluate the implications of continued habitat loss and fragmentation.
These results both illustrate an integrated approach to habitat conservation planning, and
provide a framework to test a-priori hypotheses regarding animal movement. The
portability of these principles can serve as a framework for long-term planning for this
and other species in various regions in North America.
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