An unbalanced recovery approach threatens the Florida panther

Maehr, David; Hoctor, Thomas; Harris, Larry

This paper examines the evolution of recovery efforts for a geographically isolated large carnivore, and looks beyond current management activities to seek a landscape solution to the Florida panther's tenuous existence. Since the publication of "The theory of island biogeography" by MacArthur and Wilson (1967), the spatial attributes of autecology have received increasing attention by researchers. Theoretical and applied approaches to mammalian landscape ecology emerged in the early 1970s as the result of work primarily on rodent pests (Hansson 1995). In recent years, numerous papers, an entire book, and a special journal section have been devoted to the theory and practice of mammalian landscape ecology, and the importance of this new field to conservation efforts (Lidicker 1995, Bowers 1997). Still, most work, because of the logistic difficulties involved with studying wide-ranging mammals, has focused on small mammals and invertebrates (Pastor et al. 1997). The relation of the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) to the landscape has been examined (Maehr and Cox 1995), but the simple discovery that the subspecies is inextricably linked to forest cover has been insufficient to compel land managers to plan beyond the boundaries of existing public preserves.