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

Potential Habitat and Dispersal Corridors for Cougars in the Midwest
Clayton K. Nielsen, Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale, IL 62901-6504, USA, kezo92@siu.edu
Michelle A. LaRue, Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale, IL 62901-6504, USA, michelle_larue@hotmail.com
ABSTRACT Increasing cougar (Puma concolor) presence in the Midwest represents a
growing management concern for wildlife biologists. However, with the exception of
ongoing research in the Black Hills, no studies have been conducted regarding potential
cougar habitat and dispersal corridors in the Midwest. Our objectives were to model
potential habitat and dispersal corridors for cougars using an expert-opinion survey,
geospatial data, and a GIS. Five geospatial data layers were used in the model: land
cover, digital elevation models, roads, streams, and human density. Based on matrices of
pair-wise comparisons involving these data layers, 11 expert biologists were surveyed to
rank combinations of habitat factors in order of importance to potential cougar habitat in
the Midwest. We evaluated surveys using the Analytical Hierarchy Process and used a
GIS to analyze data and create a map of potential cougar habitat in a 9-state portion of the
Midwest just east of established cougar range. About 8% of the study region contained
highly favorable habitat (≥75% favorability) for cougars; Arkansas (19%) and Missouri
(16%) had the most potentially favorable habitat. We identified 6 large, contiguous areas
of highly favorable habitat for cougars (≥2,500 km 2 in size with ≥75% habitat
favorability). Based on this habitat model, we used least-cost pathway methods to create
potential dispersal corridors for cougars from established western populations into the
interior Midwest. The most-likely least-cost pathways started in western Texas and went
to areas of suitable habitat in the Ouachita and Ozark National Forests. Additionally, we
created least-cost pathways to 30 locations of known cougar occurrence in North Dakota,
Nebraska, and Missouri. Our models represent the first large-scale assessment of cougar
habitat and dispersal potential in the Midwest and serve as a baseline for conservation
and management efforts.
Proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop
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