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Abstract
The Sky Island region of southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico consists of isolated mountain ranges separated by deserts and grasslands. It mixes elements from five major ecosystems: the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts and the Neotropics. Here some Neotropical species reach their northern ranges, such as jaguars (Panthera onca) and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis). Sky Island Alliance seeks to build cooperative relationships with landowners in Sonora and public land managers in Arizona to facilitate scientific research, encourage large predator conservation, and establish corridors connecting patches of continuous habitat throughout the region. We have conducted wildlife surveys with remote cameras in northern Sonora since 2007 and in Arizona since 2009. Our photographic records cover 24 species of wild mammals, including jaguar (Panthera onca), ocelot(Leopardus pardalis), puma (Puma concolor) and bobcat (Lynx rufus). In 2009 we documented Arizona’s first live ocelot, and recently we documented two individual jaguars 30 miles south of the border in Sonora. The project’s results have increased our knowledge of borderland wildlife, especially the Sonoran ocelot, and supported the certification of a 10,000-acre private ranch as a wildlife preserve in northern Sonora.
Parent Publication
Keywords
Madrean Archipelago,
Sky Islands,
southwestern United States,
northern Mexico,
natural environment,
fauna,
flora,
research,
management,
biodiversity,
climate change
Citation
Avila-Villegas, Sergio; Lamberton-Moreno, Jessica. 2013. Wildlife survey and monitoring in the Sky Island Region with an emphasis on neotropical felids. In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Ffolliott, Peter F.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Collins, Loa C. Merging science and management in a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III and 7th Conference on Research and Resource Management in the Southwestern Deserts; 2012 May 1-5; Tucson, AZ. Proceedings. RMRS-P-67. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 441-447.
