Literature Summary #5
Ed Pritchard
Land, Darrell E., Shindle, David B., Kawula, Robert J., Benson, John F., Lotz, Mark A.,
and Onorato, Dave P. 2008. Florida Panther Habitat Selection Analysis of Concurrent GPS
and VHF Telemetry Data. Journal of Wildlife Management (2008) Vol. 72, No. 3, 633-639.
All six authors are with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission based in Naples,
FL, USA. One of the authors, Robert J. Kawula, is stationed at the FFWCC site in Tallahassee,
FL, USA.
1) Research problem or question: The particular interest of this study is to investigate the
habitat selection patterns of the Florida Panther (Puma concolor coryi) using telemetry
data in order to assess the impact that habitat loss has had on this small population and to
assist in the habitat management process for this species.
2) Background knowledge leading up to study: The Florida Panther is currently listed as
an endangered subspecies in the United States. Human development in panther habitat
negatively impacts their recovery by decreasing habitat size and fragmenting suitable
ranges. Panthers are wide ranging and secretive, occurring at low densities. Florida
Panthers require large contiguous areas to meet their social, reproductive, and energetic
needs. Panther habitat selection is related to prey availability (i.e., habitats that make prey
vulnerable to stalking and capturing are selected). Limiting factors for the panther are
habitat availability, prey availability, and lack of human tolerance.
3) Methods used by investigators: Researchers investigated habitat selection of 12
panthers in the northern portion of the breeding range (12,588 km2, which consisted of
mostly public lands in South Florida) using 1) Global Positioning System (GPS)
telemetry data collected during nocturnal and diurnal periods and 2) VHF telemetry data
collected only during diurnal periods. Analysis of both types of telemetry data yielded
similar results as panthers selected upland (P < 0.001) and wetland (P < 0.001) forested
habitat types.
4) Results: The findings support earlier work suggesting that forests are the habitat types
selected by panthers, as the researchers found that upland and wetland forests were
selected and all other habitats were neither selected nor avoided. The results cannot fully
explain panther habitat relationships, but they do represent the first habitat selection
analyses of panther telemetry data collected during both diurnal and nocturnal periods
and provide preliminary information about panther habitat use.
5) Weakness of study: The weaknesses of the study lie in the small sample size and the
limited distribution of study individuals relative to occupied panther habitat. There may
also be a bias related to the performance of the GPS telemetry across different habitat
types. Another limitation is that the researchers failed to test for potential differences
among categories of individuals such as sex, age, and reproductive status classes.
6) What was learned: Compositional analyses of Florida panther habitat in this study
confirmed previous findings that forest patches comprise an important component of
Florida panther habitat in south Florida. The results of this study could aid in increasing
the efficiency and effectiveness of these programs by providing information needed to
determine which lands should be subject to regulatory programs and to target specific
areas for protection, either through fee-simple acquisition or purchase of less-than-fee
conservation easements.