Evaluating range‐wide habitat use by a target species requires information on species occurrence over broad geographic regions, a process made difficult by species rarity, large spatiotemporal sampling domains and imperfect detection. We address these challenges in an assessment of habitat use for jaguars (Panthera onca) outside protected areas in Central America. Occurrence records were acquired within 12 putative corridors using interviews with knowledgeable corridor residents. We developed a Bayesian hierarchical occupancy model to gain robust inference, allowing for heterogeneity introduced in the sampling process over space and time, using records of jaguar occurrence prone to false positives and false negatives. Probability of false detection of jaguars increased with the number of interviews conducted per unit (from 5.42% to 7.74% given <4 and ≥4 observers per unit). True probability of detection (p = 0.58) increased with the number of days interviewees spent in a survey unit per year. Failing to account for false positives biased predicted habitat use high (c. 1.8×), especially where occurrence records were sparse. Probability of site use by jaguars increased with greater forest cover, prey richness, and distance from human settlements, and decreased with greater agricultural cover, elevation, and distance from protected areas. Site use probabilities averaged 0.15–0.97 by corridor, providing relatively fine‐scale resolution of predicted jaguar occurrence consistent with known patterns of jaguar gene flow across Central America. Model validation, accounting for both false positives and negatives in the observation process, indicated moderate correspondence between model‐predicted observations and actual observations for withheld data (0.65, 95% CRI 0.59–0.71), with sensitivity and specificity rates of 0.69 (0.61–0.77) and 0.59 (0.50–0.68), respectively. These results demonstrate that reliable predictions can be achieved despite the complexity of large‐scale, interview‐based analyses of species occurrence. Synthesis and applications. Our Bayesian hierarchical occupancy model accommodated heterogeneity caused by typical sampling inequities and idiosyncrasies associated with interview data, yielding robust estimates of jaguar habitat use. Our approach is applicable to any wide‐ranging and readily identifiable species and has particular utility for rare species in human‐dominated landscapes where traditional survey techniques (e.g. camera traps) may be impractical.

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The umbrella species concept posits that protection of a single, wide-ranging species may confer protection to a large number of sympatric species. Due to their large home ranges, widespread distribution in the Mesoamerican Biodiversity Hotspot (MBH), and status as the focal species of numerous conservation initiatives, the jaguar Panthera onca is an ideal species to evaluate the umbrella strategy. After ground-truthing jaguar corridors from 2009 - 2016, we tested the umbrella value of jaguars for endemic herpetofauna (Amphibia, Reptilia) in Nuclear Central America (NCA), a ~ 370 000 km² sub-region of the MBH. NCA contains the greatest density of threatened reptiles in the Western Hemisphere and harbors extraordinary high diversity of amphibians, the most threatened class of vertebrate worldwide. Of the 304 regional endemics in NCA, the distributions of 187 (61.5 %) species of amphibians and reptiles overlapped ground-truthed jaguar range. The distributions of 14 reptiles, including a critically endangered Bothriechis spp. and two endangered Norops spp., occur exclusively within jaguar distribution. Similarly, the distributions of 19 amphibians, including four critically endangered Craugastor spp. and two critically endangered Plectrohyla spp. occur entirely within jaguar distribution. Our results indicate greater effectiveness of ground-truthed jaguar distribution than modeled and randomly selected networks in overlapping the distributions of endemic herpetofauna, especially threatened amphibians, in NCA. Substantiation of multi-taxa dependence on habitat in jaguar distribution would strengthen justification for wider application of the umbrella strategy beyond NCA and aid conservation planning in the MBH.

Understanding species-environment relationships at large spatial scales is required for the prioritization of conservation areas and the preservation of landscape connectivity for large carnivores. This endeavour is challenging for jaguars (Panthera onca), given their elusiveness, and the local nature of most jaguar studies, precluding extrapolation to larger areas. We developed an occupancy model using occurrence data of jaguars across five countries of Central America, collected from camera-trap studies of 2-12 months' duration, deployed over an area of 14 112 km 2 from 2005 to 2018. Our occupancy model showed that habitat use of jaguars increased with primary net productivity and distance to human settlements, and decreased with distance to rivers. Detection of the species was related to survey effort and research team identity. Within the jaguar extent of occurrence, 73% was deemed suitable for the species, with 47% of it lying within Jaguar Conservation Units (JCU) and 59% of JCU land being legally protected. Suitable areas were divided into four distinct clusters of continuous habitat shared across country borders. However, large areas of predicted low habitat suitability may constrict connectivity in the region. The reliability of these spatial predictions is indicated by the model validation using an independent dataset (AUC = 0.82; sensitivity = 0.766, specificity = 0.761), and concordance of our results with other studies conducted in the region. Across Central America, we found that human influence has the strongest impact on jaguar habitat use and JCUs are the main reservoirs of habitat. Therefore, conservation actions must focus on preventing habitat loss and mitigating human pressure, particularly within the clusters of continuous areas of high suitability, and on restoring habitat to foster connectivity. The long-term persistence of jaguars in the region will depend on strong international cooperation that secures jaguar populations and their habitat across Central American borders.