Faced with severe development pressures on privately owned land within its boundaries, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area used GIS to identify unprotected areas which may prove critical for the preservation of a viable bobcat (Felis rufus) population in the mountains. We combined existing research on bobcat habitat requirements with geographic land use data to identify potential bobcat habitat. A field-based track survey, focused on habitat adjacent to rural and suburban development, was undertaken in an attempt to detect actual presence of bobcats within the modeled habitat. Relatively remote "core" areas were sampled as controls. Subsequently, we employed the GRID module of ArcInfo to assess current configuration of bobcat habitat, including patch connectivity, patch size and habitat protection status.
Future development scenarios were analyzed in addition to current land use. The GIS analysis resulted in information on the outlook of the bobcat population in the Santa Monica Mountains and illustrating the inadequacy of the current configuration of park land identified unprotected land within the mountains which may be critical for local preservation of carnivores such as the bobcat. The use of GIS for this study not only produced valuable information in a short amount of time, but established a methodology so that results may be easily updated as more data becomes available. The research also highlighted the need for more field-based data collection on populations of key species.
Denise Kamradt
Santa Monica Mtns. National Recreation Area
30401 Agoura Rd.,
Suite #100
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Telephone: 818-597-1036 ext. 236
Fax: 818-597-8357
Email: denise@samo.nps.gov