Spotting what’s important: Priority areas, connectivity, and conservation of the Northern Tiger Cat (Leopardus tigrinus) in Colombia

Abstract

Leopardus tigrinus is among the least known carnivore species in the Neotropics, including considerable taxonomic uncertainty. Here we model the distribution, connectivity and overlap with existing conservation areas for the species in Colombia. Using a Species Distribution Modeling approach, we estimated current potential range of the species in Colombia and identified potential habitat blocks remaining in the country. In addition, we designed a connectivity network across the available cores, using a circuit theory approach, to evaluate habitat linkage. Finally, we defined a prioritization scheme for the remaining habitat cores and assessed the level of coverage of protected areas for the country. L. tigrinus is potentially present across the three Andean branches of Colombia, with still considerable continuous habitat cores, mostly located on the eastern and central Andean ranges. Most habitat cores are theoretically connected, but nearly 15% are isolated. Priority areas were located across the eastern and central ranges, but with very significant and promising cores in the northern eastern and western ranges. Current level of protection indicates nearly 30% of the range is “protected”, but only about 25% is under national strict protected areas. Evolution of this coverage showed some periods of significant increase but interestingly the number of cores grew at a faster rate than overall proportion protected, likely indicating numerous discontinuous fragments, and not contiguous functional landscapes. This represents the most updated assessment of the distribution and conservation status for the species in Colombia, and indicates the numerous conservation opportunities, especially in most populated areas of the country. We found unique business environmental passive’s opportunities, including compensation and development potential, which are becoming more available in the country.

Ecological modeling, biogeography, and phenotypic analyses setting the tiger cats’ hyperdimensional niches reveal a new species

“…Recently, an analysis had already indicated L. tigrinus as absent from the rainforests of most of the Amazon biome, with the exception of the savanna’s enclaves, the Guiana Shield, and eastern Amazonia, east of the Tocantins river 9 . An analysis conducted for Colombia under the L. tigrinus name restricted the distribution of tiger-cats in the country to the three Andean cordilleras 38 .…”

“…In this scenario, three countries emerge as key for the conservation of the species complex. Brazil holds 93% of the current range of the Atlantic Forest tiger-cat and 98% of the savanna tiger-cat; Colombia is key for the clouded tiger-cat with approximately 40% of the species range and holds key areas for their conservation in all three cordilleras 20 , 38 ; Costa Rica is a key area for the Central American subspecies of clouded tiger cat (i.e., L.p. oncilla ) with more than 60% of its range. Given the current rates of habitat loss in the Andean cloud forests and in the “new” agriculture frontier of Brazil, the MATOPIBA savannas (the northern savannas) and the Caatinga of Brazil, the core of the savanna tiger-cat range, L. tigrinus and L. pardinoides would be the species under more intense pressure.…”

Assessing microhabitat, landscape features and intraguild relationships in the occupancy of the enigmatic and threatened Andean tiger cat (Leopardus tigrinus pardinoides) in the cloud forests of northwestern Colombia

“…We found a nonlinear response of Andean tiger cats to elevation and a greater use of sites located at approximately 2,000 to 3,000 m asl. Elevation was previously reported as an influential driver of habitat suitability for Andean tiger cats in Colombia, with more suitable habitats at higher elevations [ 78 ]. We observed a greater use of sites at middle elevations, which could be related to prey availability likely represented by the assemblages of small mammals [ 79 , 80 ].…”

“…We found a positive effect between the habitat use of Andean tiger cats and the distance to human settlements, which was consistent with the trends found for lowland tiger cat populations [ 90 ]. However, in Colombia, Andean tiger cats have been reported near human settlements and even in peri-urban areas in major cities [ 78 , 91 – 93 ]. These observations are commonly based on a few indirect or bycatch records of camera traps and tracks, with no explicit information relating Andean tiger cat populations with proximity to urban areas.…”

Small Felids Coexist in Mixed-Use Landscape in the Bolivian Amazon

“…Similarly elusive, jaguarundi home ranges have shown even more variation [ 15 ], though Michalski et al [ 51 ] estimated a female home range at 1.88 km 2 . Oncillas are one of the most poorly studied felids, and data on their space use are very lacking [ 52 , 53 ]. Reported home range sizes vary from 0.9 to 17 km 2 [ 14 , 52 ].…”