Habitat Partitioning by Sympatric Ocelots and Bobcats: Implications for Recovery of Ocelots in Southern Texas

Horne, Jon S.; Haines, Aaron M.; Tewes, M Ichael E.; Laack, Linda L.

doi:10.1894/ps-49.1

Cited by 51 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Ocelots are not generalists in any of these habitat types and are usually associated with dense vegetation cover (Harveson et al 2004, Horne et al 2009). …”

Section: Open Pen Access Ccessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocelots thrive in a non-typical habitat of northwestern Mexico

Gómez-Ramírez¹,

Gutiérrez-González²,

López‐González³

2017

Endang. Species. Res.

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“…Ocelots are not generalists in any of these habitat types and are usually associated with dense vegetation cover (Harveson et al 2004, Horne et al 2009). …”

Section: Open Pen Access Ccessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocelots thrive in a non-typical habitat of northwestern Mexico

Gómez-Ramírez¹,

Gutiérrez-González²,

López‐González³

2017

Endang. Species. Res.

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“…This region is a transition zone between Nearctic and Neotropical fauna characterized by thornshrub, scrub forest and mixed grassland-forest habitats (Blair, 1950). Blood samples were collected from wild-caught ocelots during previous radio-telemetry studies conducted between 1986 and 2005 (Tewes, 1986;Laack, 1991;Caso, 1994;Beltran & Tewes, 1995;Shindle & Tewes, 2000;Laack et al, 2005;Haines et al, 2006a,b,c;Horne et al, 2009).…”

Section: Study Area and Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ocelots in Texas are closely associated with remnant dense thornshrub communities (Shindle & Tewes, 1998;Harveson et al, 2004;Jackson & Zimmerman, 2005;Horne et al, 2009). One of the populations consists of 20-40 individuals occupying the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge (LANWR) in Cameron Country Janecˇka et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced genetic diversity and isolation of remnant ocelot populations occupying a severely fragmented landscape in southern Texas

Janečka

Tewes

Laack³

et al. 2011

Anim Conserv

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The ocelot Leopardus pardalis has become a conservation priority in the US as a result of severe population decline and loss of habitat during the 20th century. Only two small populations remain in this country. Their short-term viability is threatened by the disappearance of dense thornshrub communities, human-caused mortality and demographic stochasticity. The influence these factors have on ocelot persistence must be considered to develop effective conservation initiatives. We therefore examined neutral genetic diversity and connectivity among ocelots in the US and northeastern Mexico using 25 autosomal microsatellites and a 395-bp segment of the mitochondrial control region. Genetic variation was lowest in the population occurring on Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Texas (autosomal microsatellite H E =0.399 and mtDNA-haplotype diversity= 0) and highest in northeastern Mexico (0.637 and 0.73, respectively), while intermediate on private lands in Willacy County, Texas (0.553 and 0.252, respectively). Significant genetic differentiation between the two Texas populations was observed, despite their close proximity ($30 km). Both populations were also significantly divergent from northeastern Mexico. The absence of any detectable gene flow implies that the human modified landscape of the Lower Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas acts as a strong barrier to ocelot movement, disrupting metapopulation dynamics and contributing to loss of diversity. As a consequence, continued genetic erosion among the Texas populations is expected. The lack of movement through the fragmented landscape also suggests it is unlikely ocelots will recolonize unoccupied habitat patches along the Lower Rio Grande and the delta interior where agriculture and urban land uses predominate. The continued rapid development will exacerbate this problem. These factors threaten the persistence of the Texas populations and limit their recovery. Translocations are necessary to link ocelot populations in the US.

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“…Such a difference would also lead to ocelots retaining population connectivity for a longer time than jaguars under this scenario of habitat fragmentation. However, previous telemetry studies demonstrate a strong habitat selection by ocelots for areas with closed wood cover [43], which may impose difficulties for dispersal in such a fragmented area, as is the case for jaguars [9]. Therefore, even if some gene flow still remains between the two ocelot populations studied here, it is predicted to decline or be completely abolished as habitat discontinuities continue to increase in the future within the UPAF ecoregion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Lack of Population Genetic Structuring in Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) in a Fragmented Landscape

et al. 2015

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Abstract:Habitat fragmentation can promote patches of small and isolated populations, gene flow disruption between those populations, and reduction of local and total genetic variation. As a consequence, these small populations may go extinct in the long-term. The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), originally distributed from Texas to southern Brazil and northern Argentina, has been impacted by habitat fragmentation throughout much of its range. To test whether habitat fragmentation has already induced genetic differentiation in an area where this process has been documented for a larger felid (jaguars), we analyzed molecular variation in ocelots inhabiting two Atlantic Forest fragments, Morro do Diabo (MD) and Iguaçu Region (IR). Analyses using nine microsatellites revealed mean observed and expected heterozygosity of 0.68 and 0.70, respectively. The MD sampled population showed evidence of a genetic bottleneck under two mutational models (TPM = 0.03711 and SMM = 0.04883). Estimates of genetic structure (FST = 0.027; best fit of k = 1 with STRUCTURE) revealed no meaningful differentiation between these populations. Thus, our results indicate that the ocelot populations sampled in these fragments are still not significantly different genetically, a pattern that strongly contrasts with that previously observed in jaguars for the same comparisons. This observation is likely due to a combination of two factors: (i) larger effective population size of ocelots (relative to jaguars) in each fragment, implying a slower effect of drift-induced differentiation; and (ii) potentially some remaining permeability of the anthropogenic matrix for ocelots, as opposed to the observed lack of permeability for jaguars. The persistence of ocelot gene flow between these areas must be prioritized in long-term conservation planning on behalf of these felids.

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Habitat Partitioning by Sympatric Ocelots and Bobcats: Implications for Recovery of Ocelots in Southern Texas

Cited by 51 publications

References 26 publications

Ocelots thrive in a non-typical habitat of northwestern Mexico

Ocelots thrive in a non-typical habitat of northwestern Mexico

Reduced genetic diversity and isolation of remnant ocelot populations occupying a severely fragmented landscape in southern Texas

Lack of Population Genetic Structuring in Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) in a Fragmented Landscape

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