Evaluating recovery strategies for an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) population in the united states

Abstract The ocelot Leopardus pardalis population in the United States was listed as endangered in 1982, with only two known isolated breeding populations occurring in southern Texas. Conservation concerns for ocelots include loss of dense thornshrub habitat, mortality from ocelot-vehicle collisions, and genetic erosion. In this study, we used a population viability analysis (PVA) to evaluate four recovery strategies (i.e., supplementation of additional ocelots, reduced road mortality, habitat protection and restoration, and linkage of two breeding populations) for ocelot conservation management. We used the VORTEX (Version 9.42) program to conduct our PVA for an ocelot population located in Cameron County, Texas. Each scenario was simulated 500 times over 100 years. We compared the effectiveness of recovery strategies and combinations thereof with estimates of extinction probability and final population size. Model scenarios with no recovery strategies predicted an extinction probability of 0.65 for the Cameron population of ocelots over 100 years. The protection and restoration of thornshrub habitat was the most effective recovery strategy, followed by population linkage and reduced road mortality, with the supplementation of ocelots being the least effective strategy. Protection and restoration of ocelot habitat cannot be accomplished without the participation of private landowners. Using an adaptive management approach, future actions need to be taken to monitor ocelot populations and habitats and help to reduce the high probability of extinction predicted in our PVA for the ocelot population in Cameron County.

[1]  Michael E. Tewes,et al.  Ocelot Management and Conservation Along Transportation Corridors in Southern Texas , 2001 .

[2]  Robert D. Brown,et al.  Livestock and Wildlife Management During Drought , 1986 .

[3]  P. Beier.  Dispersal of juvenile cougars in fragmented habitat , 1995 .

[4]  J. Everitt,et al.  Trees, Shrubs, and Cacti of South Texas , 1993 .

[5]  R. I. Lonard,et al.  EFFECTS OF A SEVERE FREEZE ON NATIVE WOODY PLANTS IN THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS , 1985 .

[6]  S. O’Brien,et al.  Genetic basis for species vulnerability in the cheetah. , 1985, Science.

[7]  T. Nilsson.  Integrating effects of hunting policy, catastrophic events, and inbreeding depression, in PVA simulation: the Scandinavian wolf population as an example , 2004 .

[8]  Charles W. Fowler,et al.  Density Dependence as Related to Life History Strategy , 1981 .

[9]  D. M. Leslie,et al.  Tamaulipan Brushland of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas: Description, Human Impacts, and Management Options. , 1988 .

[10]  R. Lande.  Genetics and demography in biological conservation. , 1988, Science.

[11]  S. O'Brien,et al.  Interactive influence of infectious disease and genetic diversity in natural populations , 1988, Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

[12]  U. Fish.  Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants , 1987 .

[13]  J. Graves,et al.  Measurement of Genetic Variation in Endangered Populations: Bandicoots (Marsupialia: Peramelidae) as an Example , 1991 .

[14]  W. Sherwin,et al.  Modelling mammalian extinction and forecasting recovery: koalas at Iluka (NSW, Australia) , 2002 .

[15]  B. Griffith,et al.  Avian and Mammalian Translocations: Update and Reanalysis of 1987 Survey Data , 1996 .

[16]  D. Lindenmayer,et al.  A framework for the improved management of threatened species based on Population Viability Analysis (PVA) , 1994 .

[17]  M. Tewes,et al.  SURVIVAL AND SOURCES OF MORTALITY IN OCELOTS , 2005 .

[18]  Robert C. Maggio,et al.  Autogenic succession in a subtropical savanna: conversion of grassland to thorn woodland , 1988 .

[19]  C. W. Thornthwaite.  An approach toward a rational classification of climate. , 1948 .

[20]  U. Fish,et al.  Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States , 1980 .

[21]  Georgina M. Mace,et al.  Assessing Extinction Threats: Toward a Reevaluation of IUCN Threatened Species Categories , 1991 .

[22]  Michael E. Tewes,et al.  The importance of private lands for ocelot Leopardus pardalis conservation in the United States , 2006, Oryx.

[23]  Paul Beier,et al.  Population viability analysis. , 2016 .

[24]  L. Emmons.  A field study of ocelots (Felis pardalis) in Peru , 1988, Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie).

[25]  M. Shaffer.  Minimum Population Sizes for Species Conservation , 1981 .

[26]  D. Hewitt,et al.  Effects of a highway and mitigation projects on bobcats in Southern Texas , 2003 .

[27]  Amy W. Ando,et al.  On the Use of Demographic Models of Population Viability in Endangered Species Management , 1998 .

[28]  R. Lande,et al.  Population viability analysis , 2003 .

[29]  S. O’Brien,et al.  The consequences of demographic reduction and genetic depletion in the endangered Florida panther , 1993, Current Biology.

[30]  M. Sunquist,et al.  Wild Cats of the World , 2002 .

[31]  Paul Beier,et al.  Determining Minimum Habitat Areas and Habitat Corridors for Cougars , 1993 .

[32]  G. Anderson,et al.  Habitat use by ocelots in south Texas: implications for restoration , 2004 .

[33]  R. Bowyer,et al.  Sociality in river otters: cooperative foraging or reproductive strategies? , 2002 .

[34]  David B. Lindenmayer,et al.  Decision theory for population viability analysis , 2002 .

[35]  M. Beck,et al.  Soil Survey of Cameron County, Texas , 1941 .

[36]  Kimberly G. Smith,et al.  Metapopulations and wildlife conservation , 1997 .

[37]  S. O’Brien,et al.  Elephant seal genetic variation and the use of simulation models to investigate historical population bottlenecks. , 1993, The Journal of heredity.

[38]  M. Tewes,et al.  WOODY SPECIES COMPOSITION OF HABITATS USED BY OCELOTS (LEOPARDUS PARDALIS)IN THE TAMAULIPAN BIOTIC PROVINCE , 1998 .

[39]  Jonathan D. Ballou,et al.  Estimates of Lethal Equivalents and the Cost of Inbreeding in Mammals , 1988 .

[40]  Humphrey,et al.  Use of Highway Underpasses by Florida Panthers and Other Wildlife , 1995 .

[41]  Kevin S. McKelvey,et al.  Management of the spotted owl : A case history in conservation biology , 1996 .

[42]  S. Humphrey,et al.  Use of population viability analysis to evaluate management options for the endangered lower keys marsh rabbit , 1999 .