We examined how several ecological factors influenced home-range size for 57 mountain lions inhabiting three regions of California. Our specific objectives were to investigate: (1) the relationship between home-range size and sex, age and reproductive status; (2) how broad-scale habitat differences and prey relative abundances influenced home-range size; (3) how seasonality, within these habitats, affected home-range size; (4) whether there was a significant relationship between body mass and home-range size. Results indicate that the effects of season on home-range size influenced the study areas differently. Both intrinsic factors, such as sex and body mass, and extrinsic factors, such as deer relative abundance and study site, influenced home-range size for mountain lions in this analysis. Linear relationships, however, between body mass and home-range size were not evident for any of our study locations. Curvilinear relationships, in contrast, existed between body mass and homerange size for all study areas during particular seasons, influenced strongly by animal sex. Conservation strategies designed to protect mountain lions and their habitats should reflect the above balance between intrinsic and extrinsic factors which influence home-range size.

No abstract

There are three species of Neotropical cats whose northernmost distribution reaches the USA-Mexico border region: the jaguar Panthera onca, ocelot Leopardus pardalis and jaguarundi Herpailurus yagouaroundi. To ensure the long-term viability of Neotropical cat populations in this region it is imperative to identify current distribution and status in the northern limits of their range to conserve important populations effectively. The purpose of this study was to construct a blueprint of priority conservation areas for each species in the border region. This was done by (1) compiling reliable sightings for each species from the early 1900s to 2003, (2) conducting field surveys to ascertain species presence, and (3) conducting a geographical information system based habitat mapping workshop in which 29 scientists and conservationists provided information on the distribution and status of each species. Participants were asked to delineate and describe specific areas in the border region where historical and recent sightings of Neotropical cats have occurred, resulting in a compilation of 864 felid sightings of which 283 where reliable and had physical evidence. Twenty-one Cat Conservation Units and seven Cat Conservation Corridors were identified as areas in which to concentrate efforts for protecting felids. Only 8.9% of these Corridors and 1.1% of the Units currently have any protection. An additional 12 Corridors and 12 Units were identified as areas requiring further study.

No abstract

IntroductionOne of the objectives of the Society for Conservation Biology is "the education, at all levels, preparatory and continuing, of the public, of biologists, and of managers, in the principles of conservation biology." Education certainly promotes understanding of conservation issues (see Jacobson 1990), but it can also alter people's attitudes. In order to explore this hidden dimension of conservation education, we tested students' attitudes to nature at the start and end of a lecture course in conservation biology. MethodsSubjects consisted of third-and fourth-year undergraduate students who took a lO-weelg 27-lecture undergraduate course in conservation biology at the University of California, Davis. Between 1990 and 1992 there were 34 female students and 17 males. Forty were undergraduates, 29 of whom were biology majors, 7 were science-related majors, 4 were nonscience majors, and 11 were graduate students.