Analyzing Jaguar Territory in Mexico

from Ortega-Huerta and Medley, 1999

photo courtesy of IUCN

 The Sierra de Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico has been recognized as an important area for wildlife. It serves as a transition area between the Nearctic and Neotropical zones in North America and contains species from both zones. Of particular interest is the possibility of sustainable jaguar (Panthera onca) populations. Jaguars are considered a threatened species and also can be used as an "umbrella species," one which may be indicative of the general level of biodiversity in the area. In this study, researchers concentrated on how human influences in the area affect fragmentation of wildlife habitat.
As seen in this figure, several maps and groups of spatial data were overlayed to analyze jaguar habitat in the Sierra de Tamaulipas. Habitat was ranked based on associations between environmental attributes and jaguar sightings. Attributes such as vegetation types, slope of the land and elevation, and distance from streams was recorded at each jaguar sighting to construct a model of ideal jaguar habitat. Using vegetation and topographic maps of the area, researchers could then rank existing land according to how it compared to the model. By overlaying parcel data in the area, they could also view how how much and of what quality jaguar habitat had been fragmented and damaged due to development by humans.

Photo courtesy of IUCN

 Based on the maps generated in this study, the Sierra de Tamaulipas is an important habitat area for the jaguar and remains relatively unfragmented. A thorough assessment like this one using GIS can make a powerful case for continued protection of such an area. The role of GIS in overlaying different landscape attributes to model habitat is extremely helpful and could be used in many other areas of the world.