Spatial models of jaguar energy expenditure in response to border wall construction and remediation
The construction of a wall at the United States-Mexico border is known to impede and deter movement of terrestrial wildlife between the two countries. One such species is the jaguar, in its northernmost range in the borderlands of Arizona and Sonora.
Wildlands Network Director of Conservation Programs Juan Carlos Bravo, Borderlands Program Coordinator Myles Traphagen, and other partners developed an anisotropic cost distance model for jaguar in a binational crossing area of the Madrean Sky Islands at the United States-Mexico border in Southern Arizona as a case study by using previously collected GPS tracking data for jaguars, bioenergetic calculations for pumas, and a digital elevation model. This model describes projected energy expenditure for jaguar to reach key water sources north of the international border. The results demonstrate opportunities for remediation. Improved understanding of how border infrastructure impacts physiological requirements and resulting impacts to jaguar and other terrestrial wildlife in the United States-Mexico borderlands may inform conservation management.
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