Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Modeling Viable Mammal Populations In Gap Analyses, Craig R. Allen, L. G. Pearlstine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Gap analysis is an approach to conserving biological diversity that maps species richness and identifies sites that ought to be protected but are not in conservation networks. Gap analyses based on species richness may have high error rates when species models are based solely on species-habitat association, because patches too small to support populations are still considered to be potential habitat. We incorporated information on the home range and dispersal distances of the mammals of Florida to estimate minimum critical areas (MCA) to support minimum viable populations for each mammal species. Incorporating MCA decreases the area occupied by the highest …