Bobcat HSI Model

Roberts, S.B., J.D. Jordan, P. Bettinger, and R.J.
Warren. 2010.
Journal of Wildlife Management 74:386-384.
Kelsi Potterf
USING BOBCAT HABITAT
SUITABILITY
TO PRIORITIZE HABITAT
PRESERVATION ON A
SUBURBANIZING BARRIER
ISLAND

 Growing emphasis on
wildland-urban interface as
urban sprawl continues
 Incorporation of green space
by developers
 Develop a habitat assessment
tool for the bobcat (Lynx
rufus)—HSI
 Habitat requirements
 Ecological niche
 Sensitivity to fragmentation
 Social appeal
INTRODUCTION

 Lancia et al. (1982), Boyle and Fenley (1987)—
Southeastern US
 Food Suitability Index (FSI)—optimal habitat for cotton rats
(Sigmodon hispidus) and eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)
 90% grass, forb, or shrub cover with 50-70%vegetation in grasses
or forbs
 Connor and Leopold (1998)—Mississippi National Forest
habitat suitability for female bobcats
 Woolf et al. (2002)—home-range scale across Illinois
 Nielsen and Woolf (2002)—correlates suitability to
abundance in southern Illinois
SIMILAR STUDIES

 All were small scale and only natural habitats
 Only focus on food availability
 Assumes that FSI would satisfy cover needs
PROBLEMS WITH PREVIOUS RESEARCH

 Reassess land-preservation opportunities with a
simple, effective and biological tool
 Kiawah Island Natural Habitat Conservancy (KINHC)
 Fine scale suitability
 Modified bobcat Habitat Suitability Index (MHSI) Model using
telemetry data, den counts, and prey counts
 Integrate FSI, Cover Suitability Index (CSI), and Den
Suitability Index (DSI)
 Urban areas can cause these requisites to be mutually exclusive
 Other life requisites are met in undeveloped areas
PURPOSE

 Kiawah Island
 3500 ha coastal barrier island
 1500 ha marsh
 2000 ha thickets, ponds, golf course, resort development and sand
 25 km south of Charleston, South Carolina
 Development began in 1974
 By 2005 there were 3000
parcels
 70 homes added per year
 Local regulations maintain
green space—mosaic
 Buffer strips
 Canopy cover
 Riparian vegetation
STUDY AREA

 Supports 30 bobcats—1.4 per upland km2
 Can occur at densities from 5 per 100 km2 to 48 per
100 km2
 Home ranges vary
based on ecology
 Home range
between 6 km2 and
325 km2
(IUCN 2014)
KIAWAH ISLAND

 9 land cover types—input to Arc GIS 9.1
 Geo-referenced plat map
 Municipal building permit data
 Infrared digital orthophotography
 Modified HSI grid created from FSI, CSI and DSI grids
 Hawth’s Analysis Tools to evaluate mean MHSI value within each
parcel
METHODS

 Hawth’s Analysis Tools to estimate FSI for each land
cover type
 1000 random locations
 Nocturnal radiotelemetry locations
 Small scale rodent trapping supported FSI values
FOOD SUITABILITY INDEX

 Area covered by forest or shrub for concealment
 Areas next to roadways not included due to noise
 Diurnal radiotelemetry locations
 Radiocollared 16 bobcats—8 males and 8 females
from April 2004 to March 2005
 Telemetry locations
recorded 5 times a week
 Recording start time
shifted by 2 hours
 Records occurred more
than 12 hours apart
 An average of 154
locations collected for
each bobcat
COVER SUITABILITY INDEX

 Forest and shrub land cover types
 Shape and size of core habitat—no smaller than 2 ha
 Visual Basic 6.0—2 ha moving window grid
 Den location in spring of 2004 and 2005—6 located
 2 dens located in areas considered unsuitable
 Recommend the use of a minimum threshold on MHSI
DEN SUITABILITY INDEX

 Highly Suitable—MHSI=0.83*
 367.1 ha forest*
 306.4 ha shrub*
 116.4 ha open dune
 425.8 ha developed
 Total—1215.7 ha (43.7%)
 Uninhabitable—MHSI=0
 807 ha salt marsh
 234.1 ha sand
 208.8 ha golf course
 160.7 ha roads
 153.7 ha water
 Total—1564.3 ha (57.3%)
RESULTS

 Locations with low MHSI
values are most
available
 High MHSI values are
least available
DISCUSSION

 Results support Boyle and Fendley (1987) model—
cotton rat availability
 Bobcat-human ecology
 Activity reduced to avoid human interaction
 Current use as an umbrella species for habitat
preservation
 Under some scrutiny
DISCUSSION

 Population very unique
 MHSI specific to this population
 Isolated population
 High population density
 May not be location-appropriate focal species
DISCUSSION

 Slide 1:
http://wallpaperswa.com/Animals/wildlife/animals_wildlife_bobcats_1600x1200_wallpape
r_44200/download_1600x1200
 Slide 2:http://www.kiawahisland.com/developer /,
http://fullwallpaper.tk/2014/07/13/bobcat/
 Slide 7: http://www.expedia.com/Charleston-Hotels-ResortQuest-Rentals-At-Kiawah-
Island.h1240620.Hotel-Information
 Slide 9: http://www.file-extensions.org/arcgis-explorer-file-extensions
 Slide 10: http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/species/graphics/bobcat_1.jpg
 Slide 11: http://www.kiawahresort.com/blog/kiawah -island/2014/04/16/kiawah-bobcats/
 Slide 12: http://conservationcubclub.com/2012/08/is -your-cat-a-tree-or-bush-
dweller/bobcat_family -in-den/,
http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/faculty/ClarkW/html/reproduction.html
 Slide 13: http://www.nwf.org/news-and-magazines/national-
wildlife/animals/archives/2014/kiawah-bobcats.aspx
 Slide 16: http://carolinaartsnews.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/the -wells-gallery-at-the-
sanctuary-on-kiawah-island-sc-announce-winners-of-the-3rd-annual-island-arts-juried-show/,
http://andthatswhenshesnapped.wordpress.com/
 Slide 18:
http://www.welcometokiawah.com/Links%20of%20Interest/KINHC/People%20bobcats%20
mingle%20on%20lush%20Kiawah%20Island%20.htm
 Slide 19: http://www.kiawahresort.com/recreation/by -interest/wildlife-as-we-see-
it/wildlife-archives-2010
 Slide 22: http://trackingtheworld.com/blog/gps-tracking-allows-contruction-company-to-
avoid-wildlife/
 Other: Microsoft Powerpoint
PHOTO COURTESY

IUCN Redlist [IUCN]. 2014. Lynx rufus.
<http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/12521/0>.
Accessed 5 October 2014.
Roberts, S.B., J.D. Jordan, P. Bettinger, and R.J. Warren. 2010.
Using bobcat habitat suitability to prioritize habitat
preservation on a suburbanizing barrier island. Journal of
Wildlife Management 74:386-384.
REFERENCE

Bobcat HSI Model

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