Genetic source–sink dynamics among naturally structured and anthropogenically fragmented puma populations

Gustafson, Kyle D.; Gagne, Roderick B.; Vickers, T. Winston; Riley, Seth P. D.; Wilmers, Christopher C.; Bleich, Vernon C.; Pierce, Becky M.; Kenyon, Marc W.; Drazenovich, Tracy L.; Sikich, Jeff A.; Boyce, Walter M.; Ernest, Holly B.

doi:10.1007/s10592-018-1125-0

Cited by 43 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…This national pattern of isolation for southern California bobcats mirrors findings for mountain lion populations in LA which were found to have some of the lowest genetic diversity nationally, second only to the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi, Roelke et al 1993;Riley et al 2014). Similar genetic population structuring and lack of genetic diversity within portions of southern California were also observed for mountain lions in a regional-scale analysis that encompassed the states of California and Nevada (Gustafson et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…To facilitate planning and management for connectivity, wide-ranging carnivores can inform local and regional conservation efforts (Gustafson et al 2019). Our study and the results of analyses of other species in the region highlight the importance of maintaining connectivity on local scales, while also improving and establishing sustainable linkages to habitats at the regional scale.…”

mentioning

confidence: 77%

“…There is also a west to east gradient of development which ranges from the more densely populated areas along the coast in the west to the more intact and preserved areas in the east. Although bobcats are widespread throughout this region, they often lack the ability to disperse among isolated populations which may lead to bottlenecks and lower genetic diversity, similar to the deleterious effects seen in genetically depauperate mountain lion (Puma concolor) populations in the region (Riley et al 2014;Ernest et al 2014;Gustafson et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carnivore population structure across an urbanization gradient: a regional genetic analysis of bobcats in southern California

Smith

Jennings

Boydston³

et al. 2020

Landscape Ecol

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Context In human-dominated landscapes, habitat fragmentation and barriers to movement can interrupt gene flow. While often considered at a local extent, regional analyses are also needed to reveal broader landscape-mediated population processes. Objectives To explore the relationship between patterns of gene flow and fragmentation resulting from urbanization across southern California, we used the bobcat as an indicator species. We assembled data for a landscape level genetic analysis across southern California from both archived and new samples, including two northern Californian populations for comparison, to identify local and regional areas affected by isolation. Methods Our regional analyses focused on a dataset of 19 microsatellite loci for 118 individuals and a dataset of 422 individuals genotyped at 11 loci. We examined population genetic structure and examined how pairwise genetic distance of all population clusters aligned with geographic distance. We employed a landscape genetic analysis based on resistance to determine which features of the Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

mentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carnivore population structure across an urbanization gradient: a regional genetic analysis of bobcats in southern California

Smith

Jennings

Boydston³

et al. 2020

Landscape Ecol

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“…This is partly due to costs associated with traditionally accepted methods of estimating mountain lion populations (i.e., radio-collaring; Beausoleil et al 2013). Our integrated statewide habitat selection maps, combined with recent genetic analyses (Gustafson et al 2019), can allow state wildlife managers to define mountain lion populations across California (Warren et al 2016) and then, again relying on our statewide habitat selection models, implement more cost-effective sampling protocols when deriving robust statewide abundance and regional population estimates for mountain lions across California (Davidson et al 2014). This would reduce the need for invasive techniques such as radio-collaring to estimate mountain lion population density and trend.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although mountain lions are not threatened or endangered in California, some local populations are currently at risk of extirpation because of habitat loss (Benson et al 2016) and continued land-use change will put additional populations at risk (Gustafson et al 2019). In some areas of the state, mountain lions negatively affect large ungulates (Hudgens et al 2016, Conner et al 2018.…”

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confidence: 99%

Using Mountain Lion Habitat Selection in Management

Dellinger

Cristescu

Ewanyk³

et al. 2019

J Wildl Manag

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Wildlife agencies are generally tasked with managing and conserving species at state and local levels simultaneously. Thus, it is necessary for wildlife agencies to understand basic ecological processes of a given species at multiple scales to aid decision making at commensurately varied spatial and behavioral scales. Mountain lions (Puma concolor) occur throughout California, USA, and are at the center of a variety of management and conservation issues. For example, they are genetically and demographically at risk in 1 region yet apparently stable and negatively affecting endangered species in another. Currently, no formal plan exists for mountain lions in California to deal with these diverse scenarios involving issues of local mountain lion population viability and problems related to predation of endangered species. To facilitate development of a statewide management and conservation plan, we quantified habitat selection by mountain lions at 2 spatial scales across the range of environmental conditions in which the species is found in California. Our analyses used location data from individuals (n = 263) collared across the state from 2001-2019. At the home range scale, mountain lions selected habitat to prioritize meeting energetic demands. At the within home range scale, mountain lions avoided areas of human activity. Further, our analyses revealed 165,350-170,085 km 2 , depending on season, of suitable mountain lion habitat in California. Fifty percent of the suitable habitat was on unprotected lands and thus vulnerable to development. These habitat selection models will help in the development of a statewide conservation and management plan for mountain lions in California by guiding mountain lion population monitoring through time, prioritization of habitat to be conserved for maintaining demographic connectivity and gene flow, and efforts to mediate mountain lion-prey interactions. Our work and application area will help with wildlife policy and management decisions related to depredation problems at the local scale and issues of habitat connectivity at the statewide scale.

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Habitat fragmentation reduces survival and drives source–sink dynamics for a large carnivore

Nisi

Benson

King

et al. 2023

Ecological Applications

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Rigorous understanding of how environmental conditions impact population dynamics is essential for species conservation, especially in mixed-use landscapes where source-sink dynamics may be at play. Conservation of large carnivore populations in fragmented, human-dominated landscapes is critical for their long-term persistence. However, living in human-dominated landscapes comes with myriad costs, including direct anthropogenic mortality and sublethal energetic costs. How these costs impact individual fitness and population dynamics are not fully understood, partly due to the difficulty in collecting long-term demographic data for these species. Here, we analyzed an 11-year dataset on puma (Puma concolor) space use, mortality, and reproduction in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, to quantify how living in a fragmented landscape impacts individual survival and population dynamics.Long-term exposure to housing density drove mortality risk for female pumas, resulting in an 18-percentage-point reduction in annual survival for females in exurban versus remote areas. While the overall population growth rate appeared stable, reduced female survival in more developed areas resulted in source-sink dynamics across the study area, with 42.1% of the Santa Cruz Mountains exhibiting estimated population growth rates <1. Since habitat selection is often used as a proxy for habitat quality, we also assessed whether puma habitat selection predicted source and sink areas. Patterns of daytime puma habitat selection predicted source areas, while time-of-day-independent habitat selection performed less well as a proxy. These results illuminate the individual-and population-level consequences of habitat fragmentation for large carnivores, illustrating that habitat fragmentation can produce sourcesink dynamics that may not be apparent from other metrics of habitat quality. Locally, conserving high-quality source habitat within the Santa Cruz Mountains is necessary to support long-term puma population persistence. More broadly, source-sink dynamics may at play for other carnivore populations in similar fragmented systems, and linking landscape conditions

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Genetic source–sink dynamics among naturally structured and anthropogenically fragmented puma populations

Cited by 43 publications

References 86 publications

Carnivore population structure across an urbanization gradient: a regional genetic analysis of bobcats in southern California

Carnivore population structure across an urbanization gradient: a regional genetic analysis of bobcats in southern California

Using Mountain Lion Habitat Selection in Management

Habitat fragmentation reduces survival and drives source–sink dynamics for a large carnivore

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