Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Potential cougar habitats and dispersal corridors in Eastern North America

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Landscape Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Context

Cougars (Puma concolor) have been recolonizing Midwestern North America during the past 3 decades with > 950 cougar confirmations east of established populations. Due to an increase in confirmations east of current breeding populations, evaluation of cougar habitat suitability and connectivity is needed. However, few studies have assessed the habitat potential for cougar recolonization in the eastern portion of their former range.

Objectives

We used various habitat quality thresholds to model potential cougar habitats and dispersal corridors throughout eastern North America.

Methods

Based on expert opinion, we used landcover, slope, human density, distance to roads, and distance to water as model variables. Least-cost path methods were used to model dispersal corridors from western populations to potential eastern habitat patches.

Results

Patches of suitable habitat ranged in size from 3868 km2 (Ozark Mountains) to > 2,490,850 km2 (central and eastern Canada). Potential habitats were predominantly forest and shrubland, contained little anthropogenic development, and had high stream densities. Dispersal corridors were present throughout the study area. Corridors largely consisted of forested and cultivated landscapes and had higher road densities than habitat patches.

Conclusions

Our research provides conservationists with insights into areas suitable for cougar recolonization so they may proactively plan for potential cougar populations east of their current range. This work also provides a framework for evaluating multiple levels of landscape suitability for recolonizing species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ackerman BB, Lindzey FG, Hemker TP (1984) Cougar food habits in southern Utah. J Wildl Manage 48:147–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander PD, Gese EM (2018) Identifying individual cougars (Puma concolor) in remote camera images-implications for population estimates. Wildl Res 45:274–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almasieh K, Kaboli M, Beier P (2016) Identifying habitat cores and corridors for the Iranian black bear in Iran. Ursus 27(1):18–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson CR, Lindzet FG (2005) Experimental evaluation of population trend and harvest composition in a Wyoming cougar population. Wildl Soc Bull 33:179–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atwood TC, Gese EM, Kunkel KE (2006) Comparative patterns of predation by cougars and recolonizing wolves in Montana’s Madison Range. J Wildl Manage 71:1098–1106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baum KA, Haynes KJ, Dillemuth FP, Cronin JT (2004) The matrix enhances the effectiveness of corridors and stepping stones. Ecology 85:2671–2676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beier P (1993) Determining minimum habitat areas and habitat corridors for cougars. Conserv Biol 7:94–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beier P (1995) Dispersal of juvenile cougars in fragmented habitat. J Wildl Manage 59:228–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beier P (2009) A focal species for conservation planning. In: Hornocker M, Negri S (eds) Cougar: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 177–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton AC, Neilson E, Moreira D, Ladle A, Steenweg R, Fisher JT, Bayne E (2015) Wildlife camera trapping: a review and recommendations for linking surveys to ecological processes. J Appl Ecol 52:675–685

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardoza JE, Langolis SA (2002) The eastern cougar: a management failure? Wildl Soc Bull 30:265–273

    Google Scholar 

  • CEC (Commission for Environmental Cooperation) (2015) North American land cover. http://cec.org/. Accessed 23 Jan 2020

  • Clevenger AP, Wierzchowski J, Chruszcz B, Gunson K (2002) GIS-generated, expert-based models for identifying wildlife habitat linkages and planning mitigation passages. Conserv Biol 16:503–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooley HS, Wielgus RB, Koehler GM, Robinson HS, Maletzke BT (2009) Does hunting regulate cougar populations? A test of the compensatory mortality hypothesis. Ecology 90:2913–2921

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooley HS, Robinson HS, Wielgus RB, Lambert CS (2010) Cougar prey selection in a white- tailed deer and mule deer community. J Wildl Manage 72:99–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cougar Network (2011) Big picture map by the Cougar Network. https://www.cougarnet.org. Accessed 1 Jan 2021

  • Cougar Network (2021) Expanding cougar population by the Cougar Network. https://www.cougarnet.org. Accessed 1 Jan 2021

  • Crawford BA, Maerz JC, Moore CT (2020) Expert-informed habitat suitability analysis for at- risk species assessment and conservation planning. J Fish Wildl Manag 11:130–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davenport M, Nielsen CK, Mangun J (2010) Attitudes toward mountain lion management in the Midwest: implications for a potentially recolonizing large predator. Hum Dimens Wildl 15:373–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson A, Carmel Y, Bar-David S (2013) Characterizing wild ass pathways using a non- invasive approach: applying least-cost path modelling to guide field surveys and a model selection analysis. Landsc Ecol 28:1465–1478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawe KL (2011) Factors driving range expansion of white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, in the boreal forest of northern Alberta, Canada. Dissertation, University of Alberta

  • Dawe KL, Boutin S (2016) Climate change is the primary driver of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) range expansion at the northern extent of its range; land use is secondary. Ecol Evol 6:6435–6451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dellinger JA, Gustafson KD, Gammons DJ, Ernest HB, Torres SG (2020) Minimum habitat thresholds required for conserving mountain lion genetic diversity. Ecol Evol 10:10687–10696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson BG, Beier P (2002) Home-range and habitat selection by adult cougars in Southern California. J Wildl Manage 66:1235–1245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson BG, Jenness JS, Beier P (2012) Influence of vegetation, topography, and roads on cougar movement in Southern California. J Wildl Manage 69:264–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson BG, Jenness JS, Beier P (2006) Influence of vegetation, topography, and roads on cougar movement in Southern California. J Wildl Manage 69:264–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson BG, Albano CA, Anantharaman R, Beier P, Fargione J, Graves TA, Gray ME, Hall KR, Lawler JJ, Leonard PB, Littlefield CE, McClure ML, Novembre J, Schloss CA, Schumaker NH, Shah VB, Theobald DM (2018) Circuit-theory applications to connectivity science and conservation. Conserv Biol 33:239–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diniz MF, Cushman SA, Machado RB, Júnior PDM (2019) Landscape connectivity modeling from the perspective of animal dispersal. Landsc Ecol 33:239–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Elbroch LM, Lendrum PE, Quigley H, Caraglulo A (2016) Spatial overlap in a solitary carnivore: support for the land tenure, kinship or resource dispersion hypotheses? J Anim Ecol 85:487–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ESRI (2011) ArcGIS 10. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California, USA. https://www.arcgis.com/index.html Accessed 15 Dec 2021

  • Fahrig L (2007) Non-optimal animal movement in human-altered landscapes. Funct Ecol 21:1003–1015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gantchoff MG, Erb JD, MacFarland DM, Norton DC, Tack JLP, Roell BJ, Belant JL (2021) Potential distribution and connectivity for recolonizing cougars in the Great Lakes region, USA. Biol Conserv 257:109144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gergel D, Nijssen B, Abatzoglou J, Lettenmaier D, Stumbaugh M (2017) Effects of climate change on snowpack and fire potential in the Western USA. Clim Change 141:287–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert SL, Sivy KJ, Pozzanghera CB, DuBour A, Overduijn K, Smith MM, Zhou J, Little JM, Prugh LA (2017) Socioeconomic benefits of large carnivore recolonization through reduced wildlife-vehicle collisions. Conserv Lett 10:431–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill RB (2009) To save a mountain lion: evolving philosophy of nature and cougars. In: Hornocker M, Negri S (eds) Cougar: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 5–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Glick HP (2014) Modeling cougar habitat in the Northeastern United States. Ecol Modell 285:78–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gloyne CC, Clevenger AP (2001) Cougar Puma concolor use of wildlife crossing structures on the Trans-Canada highway in Banff National Park, Alberta. Wildl Biol 7:117–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gnarly Landscape Utilities (2021) Circuitscape 4. The Nature Conservancy, Fort Collins, Colorado USA. https://circuitscape.org/ Accessed 15 Dec 2021

  • Government of Canada (2016) Transportation Networks in Canada. http://open.canada.ca/. Accessed 23 Jan 2020

  • Greenspan E, LaRue MA, Nielsen CK (2021) Attitudes of social media users toward mountain lions in North America. Wildl Soc Bull 45:121–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grigione MM, Beier P, Hopkins RA, Neal D, Padley WD, Schonewald CM, Johnson ML (2002) Ecological and allometric determinants of home-range size for mountain lions (Puma concolor). Anim Conserv 5:317–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanks EM, Hooten MB (2013) Circuit theory and model-based inference for landscape connectivity. JASA 108:22–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hawley JE, Rego PW, Wydeven AP, Schwartz MK, Viner TC, Kays R, Pilgrim KL, Jenks JA (2016) Long-distance dispersal of subadult male cougar from South Dakota to Connecticut documented with DNA evidence. J Mammal 97:1435–1440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemmingmoore H, Aronsson M, Åkesson M, Persson J, Andrén (2020) Evaluating habitat suitability and connectivity for a recolonizing large carnivore. Bio Conserv 242:108352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henaux V, Powell LA, Hobson KA, Nielsen CK, LaRue MA (2011) Tracking large carnivore dispersal using isotopic clues in claws: an application to cougars across the Great Plains. Methods Ecol Evol 2:489–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirth DH (1977) Social behavior of white-tailed deer in relation to habitat. Wildl Monogr 53:3–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman JD, Genoways HH (2005) Recent records of formerly extirpated carnivores in Nebraska. PNAT 37:225–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Houser RS (2002) The use of geographic information systems to model habitat for Puma concolor cougar in the Northern Blue Ridge of Virginia. Dissertation, Virginia Commonwealth University

  • Kautz R, Kawula R, Hoctor T, Comiskey J, Jansen D, Jennings D, Kasbohm J, Mazzotti F, McBride R, Richardson L, Root K (2006) How much is enough? Landscape-scale conservation for the Florida panther. Biol Conserv 103:118–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kershenbaum A, Black L, Sinai I, Merilä J, Blaustein L, Templeton AR (2014) Landscape influences on dispersal behaviour: a theoretical model and empirical test using the fire salamander, Salamandra infraimmaculata. Behav Ecol 175:509–520

    Google Scholar 

  • Knopff KH, Knopff AA, Kortello A, Boyce MS (2010) Cougar kill rate and prey composition in a multiprey system. J Wildl Manage 74:1435–1447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knopff AA, Knopff KH, Boyce MS (2014a) Flexible habitat selection by cougars in response to anthropogenic development. Biol Conserv 178:136–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knopff KH, Webb NF, Boyce MS (2014b) Cougar population status and range expansion in Alberta during 1991–2010. Wildl Soc Bull 38:116–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohn BE, Mooty JJ (1971) Summer habitat of white-tailed deer in North-Central Minnesota. J Wildl Manage 35:476–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kortello AD, Hurd TE, Murray DL (2007) Interaction between cougars (Puma concolor) and gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Banff National Park, Alberta. Ecoscience 14:214–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kramer-Schadt S, Kaiser TS, Frank K, Wiegand T (2011) Analyzing the effects of stepping stones on target patch colonization in structured landscapes for Eurasian lynx. Landsc Ecol 26:501–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laundré JW (2013) The feasibility of the North-Eastern USA supporting the return of the cougar Puma concolor. Oryx 47:96–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson TJ, Rongstad OJ, Terbilcox FW (1978) Movement and habitat use of white-tailed deer in Southcentral Wisconsin. J Wildl Manage 42:113–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaRue MA, Nielsen CK (2008) Modelling potential dispersal corridors for cougars in Midwestern North America using least-cost path methods. Ecol Modell 212:372–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaRue MA, Nielsen CK (2011) Modelling potential habitat for cougars in Midwestern North America. Ecol Modell 222:897–900

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaRue MA, Nielsen CK (2016) Population viability of recolonizing cougars in midwestern North America. Ecol Modell 321:121–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaRue MA, Nielsen CK, Dowling M, Miller K, Wilson B, Shaw H, Anderson C (2012) Cougars are recolonizing the Midwest: analysis of cougar confirmations during 1990–2008. J Wildl Manage 76:1364–1369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaRue MA, Nielsen CK, Pease BS (2019) Increases in Midwestern cougars despite harvest in a source population. J Wildl Manage 83:1306–1313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lendrum PE, Elbroch LM, Quigley H, Thompson DJ, Jimenez M, Craighead D (2014) Home range characteristics of subordinate predator: selection for refugia or hunt opportunity. J Zool 294:58–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Li D, Li T, Qiao Q, Yang J, Zhang H (2010) Application of least-cost path model to identify a giant panda dispersal corridor after the Wenchuan earthquake: case study of Wolong Nature Reserve in China. Ecol Modell 221:944–952

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang J, He X, Zeng G, Zhong M, Gao X, Li X, Li X, Wu H, Feng C, Xing X, Fang Y, Mo D (2018) Integrating priority areas and ecological corridors into national network for conservation planning in China. Sci Total Environ 626:22–29

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lidicker WZ (1999) Responses of mammals to habitat edges: an overview. Landsc Ecol 14:333–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu C, Newell G, White M, Bennett AF (2018) Identifying wildlife corridors for the restoration of regional habitat connectivity: a multispecies approach and comparison of resistance surfaces. PLoS ONE 13:e0206071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maehr DS, Land ED, Roof JC (1991) Social ecology of Florida panthers. Nat Geo Resol Expl 7:414–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Maehr DS, Land ED, Shindle DB, Bass OL, Hoctor TS (2002) Florida panther dispersal and conservation. Biol Conserv 106:187–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maiorano L, Chiaverini L, Falco M, Ciucci P (2019) Combining multi-state species distribution models, mortality estimates, and landscape connectivity to model potential species distribution for endangered species in human dominated landscapes. Bio Conserv 237:19–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marrotte RR, Bowman J (2017) The relationship between least-cost and resistance distance. PLoS ONE 12:e01742412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClure MA, Hansen J, Inman RM (2016) Connecting models to movements: testing connectivity model predictions against empirical migration and dispersal data. Landsc Ecol 31:1419–1432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McRae BH, Dickson BG, Keitt TH, Shah VB (2008) Using circuit theory to model connectivity in ecology, evolution, and conservation. Ecology 89:2712–2724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menke K (2008) Locating potential cougar (Puma concolor) corridors in New Mexico using least-cost path corridor GIS analysis. Albuquerque, New Mexico: wildlife final project report, Bird’s Eye View.

  • Mladenoff DJ, Sickley TA, Haight RG, Wydeven AP (1995) A regional landscape analysis and prediction of favorable gray wolf habitat in the Northern Great Lakes Region. Conserv Biol 9:279–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohammadi A, Almasieh K, Clevenger AP, Fatemizadeh F, Rezaei A, Jowkar H, Kaboli M (2018) Road expansion: a challenge to conservation of mammals, with particular emphasis on the endangered Asiatic cheetah in Iran. J Nat Conserv 43:8–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison CD, Boyce MS, Nielsen SE (2015) Space-use, movement, and dispersal of sub-adult cougars in a geographically isolated population. PeerJ 3:e1118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munro KG, Bowman J, Fahrig L (2012) Effect of paved road density on abundance of white-tailed deer. Wildl Res 39:478–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy KM, Felzien GS, Hornocker MG, Ruth TK (1998) Encounter competition between bears and cougars: some ecological implications. Ursus 10:55–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy KM, Ross PI, Hornocker MG (1999) The ecology of anthropogenic influences on cougars. In: Curlee AP, Minta SC, Karevia PM (eds) Carnivores in ecosystems: the Yellowstone experience. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp 77–101

    Google Scholar 

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (2020) http://www.noaa.gov/. Accessed 23 Jan 2020

  • Nielsen CK, Dowling M, Miller K, Wilson B (2006) The Cougar Network: using science to assess the status of cougars in easter North America. Proc Eastern Cougar Conf 2004:82–86

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neil ST, Rahn KC, Bump JK (2014) Habitat capacity for cougar recolonization in the Upper Great Lakes Region. PLoS ONE 9:e112565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poor EE, Loucks C, Jakes A, Urban DL (2012) Comparing habitat suitability and connectivity modeling methods for conserving pronghorn migrations. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poor EE, Scheick BK, Mullinax JM (2020) Multiscale consensus habitat modeling for landscape level conservation prioritization. Sci Rep 10:17783

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Riley SJ, Malecki RA (2001) A landscape analysis of cougar distribution and abundance in Montana, USA. Environ Manage 28:317–323

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rooney TP, Waller DM (2003) Direct and indirect effects of white-tailed deer in forest ecosystems. For Ecol Manag 181:165–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross IP, Jalkotzy MG, Gunson JR (1996) The quota system of cougar harvest management in Alberta. Wildl Soc Bull 24:490–494

    Google Scholar 

  • Rouleau I, CrÊte M, Ouellet JP (2002) Contrasting the summer ecology of white-tailed deer inhabiting a forested and agricultural landscape. Écoscience 9:459–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rustad, L, Campbell J, Dukes JS, Hunttington T, Lambert KF, Mohan J, Rodenhouse N (2012) Changing climate, changing forests: the impacts of climate change on forests of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Proceedings U.S. Forest Service, Northeast Forest and Experimentation Station

  • Saaty TL (1980) The Analytical Hierarchy Process: planning, setting priorities, resource allocation. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Saura S, Bodin O, Fortin MJ (2014) Stepping stones are crucial for species’ long-distance dispersal and range expansions through habitat networks. J Appl Ecol 51:171–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seip D (1992) Factors limiting woodland caribou populations and their interrelationships with wolves and moose in southeastern British Columbia. Can J Appl Ecol 70:1494–1503

    Google Scholar 

  • Smereka CA, Frame PF, Edwards MA, Slater OM, Frame DD, Derocher AE (2021) Space use of cougars at the northern edge of their range. J Mammal 102:1042–1053

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith JB, Nielsen CK, Hellgren EC (2014) Illinois resident attitudes toward recolonizing carnivores. J Wildl Manage 78:930–943

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith JB, Nielsen CK, Hellgren EC (2015) Suitable habitat for recolonizing large carnivores in the midwestern USA. Oryx 50:555–564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spreadbury BR, Musil RRK, Musil J, Kaisner C, Kovak J (1996) Cougar population characteristics in Southeastern British Columbia. J Wildl Manage 60:962–969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soria-Díaz L, Monroy-Vilchis O, Rodríguez-Soto C, Zarco-González MM, Urios V (2010) Variation of abundance and density of Puma Concolor in zones of high and low concentration of Camera Traps in Central Mexico. Anim Biol 60:361–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stahler DR, Wilmers CC, Tallian A, Anton CB, Metz MC, Ruth TK, Smith DW, Gunther KA, MacNulty DR (2020) Competition and coexistence among Yellowstone’s meat eaters. In: Smith DW, Stahler DR (eds) Yellowstone wolves. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 223–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada (2016) National population statistics. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/. Accessed 23 Jan 2020

  • Stoner DC, Rieth WR, Wolfe ML, Mecham MB, Neville A (2008) Long-distance dispersal of a female cougar in a basin and range landscape. J Wildl Manage 72:933–939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stricker HK, Gehring TM, Donner D, Petroelje T (2019) Multi-scale habitat selection model assessing potential gray wolf den habitat and dispersal corridors in Michigan, USA. Ecol Model 397:84–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suchant R, Baritz R, Braunisch V (2003) Wildlife habitat analysis—a multidimensional habitat management model. J Nat Conserv 10:253–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunquist ME, Sunquist F (2002) Wild cats of the world. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland C, Fuller AK, Royle JA (2014) Modelling non-Euclidean movement and landscape connectivity in highly structured ecological networks. Methods Ecol Evol 6:169–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweanor LL, Logan KA, Hornocker MG (2000) Cougar dispersal patterns, metapopulation dynamics, and conservation. Conserv Biol 14:798–808

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taverna K, Halbert JE, Hines DM (1999) Eastern Cougar (Puma concolor couguar): habitat suitability analysis for the central Appalachians. Proc Appalachian Restoration Campaign

  • Taylor PD, Fahrig L, Henein K, Merriam G (1993) Connectivity is a vital element of landscape structure. Oikos 68:571–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thatcher CA, Van Manen FT, Clark JD (2006) Identifying suitable sites for Florida panther reintroduction. J Wildl Manage 70:752–763

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson DJ, Jenks JA (2005) Long-distance dispersal by a subadult male cougar from the Black Hills, South Dakota. J Wildl Manage 69:818–820

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson DJ, Jenks JA (2010) Dispersal movements of subadult cougars from the Black Hills: the notions of range expansion and recolonization. Ecosphere 1:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Bureau of Transportation (2016) TIGER/Line® shapefiles: roads. http://www.census.gov/. Accessed 23 Jan 2020

  • U.S. Census Bureau (2010) National population statistics. http://www.census.gov/. Accessed 23 Jan 2020

  • USFWS (United States Fish and Wildlife Service) (2008) Florida Panther recovery plan. Third Revision. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

  • USGS (United States Geological Survey) (2007) 30 arc-second DEM of North America. http://www.sciencebase.gov/. Accessed 23 Jan 2020

  • USGS (United States Geological Survey) (2020) National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). https://www.usgs.gov/. Accessed 23 Jan 2020

  • Walker R, Craighead L (1997) Analyzing wildlife movement corridors in Montana using GIS. Proceedings of the 1007 ESRI user conference

  • Waller DM, Alverson WS (1997) The white-tailed deer: a keystone herbivore. Wildl Soc Bull 25:217–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Watkins B (2005) Cougars confirmed in Manitoba. Wild Cat News 1:6–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber MG, Flannigan MD (1997) Canadian boreal forest ecosystem structure and function in a changing climate: impact on fire regimes. Enviorn Rev 5:145–166

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wielgus RB (2017) Resource competition and apparent competition in declining mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). Can J Zool 95:499–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson S, Hoffman JD, Genoways HH (2010) Observations of reproduction in mountain lions from Nebraska. West N Am Nat 70:238–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittmer H, McLellan B, Serrouya R, Apps C (2007) Changes in landscape composition influence the decline of a threatened woodland caribou population. J Anim Ecol 76:568–579

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by the Summerlee Foundation and the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Program (Project ILLZ-16-R-002). We thank the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Forestry Program at Southern Illinois University and the Cougar Network for additional support. We also thank K. Akamani for reviewing an earlier draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Summerlee Foundation and the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Program (Project ILLZ-16-R-002).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Brianna M. Winkel

    Present address: Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry Program and Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    Brianna M. Winkel & Clayton K. Nielsen

  2. Wildlands Network, 329 West Pierpont Avenue, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, UT, 84111, USA

    Elizabeth M. Hillard & Ronald W. Sutherland

  3. School of Earth and Environment & Gateway Antarctica, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ, New Zealand

    Michelle A. LaRue

Authors
  1. Brianna M. Winkel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Clayton K. Nielsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Elizabeth M. Hillard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ronald W. Sutherland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michelle A. LaRue
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study design and conception. Data collection and analyses were performed by BMW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by BMW. All authors have commented on previous versions of this manuscript. All authors have approved the final version of this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brianna M. Winkel.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Winkel, B.M., Nielsen, C.K., Hillard, E.M. et al. Potential cougar habitats and dispersal corridors in Eastern North America. Landsc Ecol 38, 59–75 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01538-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01538-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation