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To address increasing fragmentation, conservation biologists have focused on protecting core habitat areas and maintaining connectivity among protected areas. Wildlife corridors, strips of relatively intact habitat designed to connect habitat fragments, may enhance connectivity, but little empirical evidence supports the idea that large mammals prefer to use corridors rather than the surrounding developed landscape. In Sonoma County, a premium wine-grape-growing region in California, we examined mammalian predator use of 21 riparian corridors classified as denuded, narrow, or wide according to the width of the remaining natural vegetation adjacent to the creek. We used unbaited, remotely triggered cameras to determine occurrence of predator species. We also monitored predator use of six vineyards, three close to core habitat and three far from core habitat, with unbaited cameras. Mammalian predator detection rates were 11-fold higher in riparian study areas than in vineyards. More native mammalian predator species were found in wide corridors than in narrow or denuded creek corridors. The number and activity level of native predators was higher in vineyards adjacent to core habitat than in vineyards farther away, where the number and activity level of non-native predators was higher. Maintaining wide and well-vegetated riparian corridors may be important in maintaining the connectivity of native predator populations to ensure their long-term survival. Utilización de Corredores Riparios y Viñedos por Mamíferos Depredadores en el Norte de CaliforniaResumen: Para tratar con el incremento en la fragmentación, los biólogos de la conservación han enfocado en la protección deáreas de hábitat núcleo y el mantenimiento de la conectividad entreáreas protegidas. Los corredores, franjas de hábitat relativamente intacto diseñadas para conectar fragmentos de hábitat, pueden incrementar la conectividad, pero existe poca evidencia empírica que sustente la idea de que mamíferos mayores utilizan preferentemente corredores en comparación con el paisaje desarrollado circundante. En el Condado de Sonoma, una región de primera calidad para el cultivo de la vid en California, examinamos el uso por mamíferos depredadores de 21 corredores riparios clasificados como denudados, angostos o amplios, de acuerdo con la amplitud de la vegetación natural remanente adyacente al arroyo. Utilizamos cámaras de disparo remoto, no cebadas, para determinar la ocurrencia de especies de depredadores. También monitoreamos, con cámaras no cebadas, el uso de seis viñedos por depredadores, tres cercanos al hábitat núcleo y tres alejados del hábitat núcleo. Las tasas de detección de mamíferos depredadores fueron 11 veces mayores enáreas riparias que en corredores angostos o denudados. El número y nivel de actividad de depredadores nativos fue mayor en viñedos adyacentes al hábitat núcleo en comparación con los viñedos alejados, donde el número y el nivel de actividad de los mamíferos depredadores fue mayor. El mantenimiento de corredores riparios anchos y con...

Many wide-ranging mammal species have experienced significant declines over the last 200 years; restoring these species will require long-term, large-scale recovery efforts. We highlight 5 attributes of a recent range-wide vision-setting exercise for ecological recovery of the North American bison (Bison bison) that are broadly applicable to other species and restoration targets. The result of the exercise, the "Vermejo Statement" on bison restoration, is explicitly (1) large scale, (2) long term, (3) inclusive, (4) fulfilling of different values, and (5) ambitious. It reads, in part, "Over the next century, the ecological recovery of the North American bison will occur when multiple large herds move freely across extensive landscapes within all major habitats of their historic range, interacting in ecologically significant ways with the fullest possible set of other native species, and inspiring, sustaining and connecting human cultures." We refined the vision into a scorecard that illustrates how individual bison herds can contribute to the vision. We also developed a set of maps and analyzed the current and potential future distributions of bison on the basis of expert assessment. Although more than 500,000 bison exist in North America today, we estimated they occupy <1% of their historical range and in no place express the full range of ecological and social values of previous times. By formulating an inclusive, affirmative, and specific vision through consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, we hope to provide a foundation for conservation of bison, and other wide-ranging species, over the next 100 years.

More than half of the land in the United States is privately owned. Private lands harbor a great amount of biodiversity, including at least some habitat for 95% of the federally listed species in the United States. It is important to conduct conservation biology research on private lands, but our review of the literature indicates that few conservation‐oriented field studies are conducted on private property. Based on our success in obtaining permission to conduct research on 43 land parcels in Sonoma County, California, we developed methods to enhance a conservation biologist's chance of obtaining permission to work on private lands. We provide guidelines for researchers to conduct studies successfully on private land with the goal of improving access, data collection, and relationships with private landowners. We also discuss constraints researchers face, such as designing studies appropriate for working on privately owned parcels. In light of the importance of these lands to biodiversity conservation, greater effort should be made to conduct research on private lands.