Habitat selection by critically endangered Florida panthers across the diel period: implications for land management and conservation: Habitat selection by Florida panthers
Abstract
Decisions regarding landscape management, restoration and land acquisition typically depend on land managers' interpretation of how wildlife selects habitat. Such assessments are particularly important for umbrella species like the endangered Florida panther Puma concolor coryi, whose survival requires vast wildlands. Some interpretations of habitat selection by panthers have been criticized for using only morning locations in defining habitat use. We assessed habitat selection using a Euclidean distance analysis and location data collected throughout the diel period from GPS collars deployed on 20 independent Florida panthers. We corroborated aspects of earlier analyses by demonstrating the selection of forested habitats by panthers. We also confirmed the selection of open habitats (i.e. marsh–shrub–swamps, prairie grasslands), a novel result. Habitat selection did not vary by sex or season but varied by time of day. Panthers were located closer to wetland forests in the daytime and used prairie grasslands more at night. Our assessment of the effect of patch size on selection of forest habitat revealed that panthers were not solely reliant on large patches (>500 ha) but utilized patches of all sizes (≤1, >5–10, >1000 ha, etc.). Our results emphasize the importance of collecting panther location data throughout the diel period when assessing habitat selection. Conservation strategies for panthers should consider a mosaic of habitats, a methodology that will protect other sens…
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Male and female panthers do not select significantly different habitat.
“Male and female panthers do not select significantly different habitat [8, 9]”
From Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
The majority of previous resource selection analyses for panthers in southern Florida were third-order selections (habitat within home ranges).
“the majority of these analyses were third order selections (habitat within home ranges) [4–9]”
From Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first model to demonstrate the importance of forest edge and water depth in panther habitat use, although other studies have examined related factors such as forest patch size and water regime.
“To our knowledge, this is the first model to demonstrate the importance of forest edge and water depth in panther habitat use, although other studies have examined related factors such as forest patch size [5, 7, 9, 36] and water regime (duration of flooding) [10].”
From Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
In south Florida, forested habitats have been shown to be important to panthers, although the region is topographically flat.
“and in south Florida forested habitats have been shown to be important to panthers [4–9, 38], although it is topographically flat [39].”
From Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
Results from this study are consistent with Kautz et al. and Onorato et al. in that, related to forest patch size, the amount of forest edge was a highly predictive variable of adult panther presence.
“Results from our study are consistent with the latter in that, related to forest patch size, the amount of forest edge was a highly predictive variable of adult panther presence.”
From Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
Upland forests ranked high in habitats selected within panther home ranges.
“However, upland forests ranked high in habitats selected within panther home ranges [6–9].”
From Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
Onorato et al. reported often encountering panther kills in forests adjacent to more open habitats.
“Onorato et al. [9] reported often encountering panther kills in forests adjacent to more open habitats.”
From Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
Other studies have suggested that edge might be an important factor in panther habitat selection.
“Other studies have suggested that edge might be an important factor in panther habitat selection [5, 9].”
From Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
Cites
Panther Habitat Use in Southern Florida
Belden, R. C., Frankenberger, W. B., McBride, R. T., & Schwikert, S. T. (1988) · The Journal of Wildlife Management · doi:10.2307/3800927 · Cited by 58 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Panthers have repeatedly been shown to select forested habitat either within their home range (thirdorder selection; Belden et al., 1988; Cox et al., 2006; Land et al., 2008) or within a study area (second-order selection; Kautz et al., 2006).”
BackgroundResultSelf-citationNatal Den Selection by Florida Panthers
BENSON, J. F., LOTZ, M. A., & JANSEN, D. (2008) · The Journal of Wildlife Management · doi:10.2193/2007-264 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Self-citationFlorida Panther Habitat Use: New Approach to an Old Problem
COX, J. J., MAEHR, D. S., & LARKIN, J. L. (2006) · Journal of Wildlife Management · doi:10.2193/0022-541x(2006)70[1778:fphuna]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 34 · cited 6× · see citing works
“…of Conner et al. (2003) to assess thirdorder habitat selection (habitat selection within the home range; Johnson, 1980), because it uses individual panthers, not GPS locations, as the sampling unit and because of its use in recent studies (Cox et al., 2006; Kautz et al., 2006; Land et al., 2008).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialImpact of Edge Habitat on Summer Home Range Size in Female Pumas
LAUNDRÉ, J. W., & LOXTERMAN, J. (2007) · The American Midland Naturalist · doi:10.1674/0003-0031(2007)157[221:ioehos]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
A Habitat Assessment for Florida Panther Population Expansion into Central Florida
Thatcher, C. A., van Manen, F. T., & Clark, J. D. (2009) · Journal of Mammalogy · doi:10.1644/08-mamm-a-219.1 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
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Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat
Frakes, R. A., Belden, R. C., Wood, B. E., & James, F. E. (2015) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133044 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
“Male and female panthers do not select significantly different habitat [8, 9], and our preliminary modeling showed that building separate models for males and females did not improve model accuracy.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialConflicts and Collisions With an Endangered Carnivore: Landscape Drivers and Spatial Risk Pattern
Prat‐Guitart, M., Onorato, D. P., Hines, J. E., & Oli, M. K. (2026) · Ecology and Evolution · doi:10.1002/ece3.73931
“…Frakes et al. 2015), maintaining habitat connectivity while minimizing conflict and anthropogenic mortality will be critical for promoting dispersal, enhancing genetic diversity, and supporting long-term population persistence (Beier 1995; Onorato et al. 2010, 2024; Schwab and Zandbergen 2011).”
InfluentialSelf-citation
- Authors
- Onorato, D. P., Criffield, M., Lotz, M., Cunningham, M., McBride, R., Leone, E. H., Bass, O. L., & Hellgren, E. C.
- Affiliations
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (US)
- Everglades National Park (US)
- Southern Illinois University Carbondale (US)
- Corresponding author
- Onorato, D. P.
- Venue
- Animal Conservation
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-12-22
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 196-205
- ISSN
- 1367-9430 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1951055447
- Cited by
- 48
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Animal Conservation (publishedVersion)
- OpenSIUC (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- South Florida Water Management District
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation
- Keywords
- Florida panther, Puma concolor coryi, habitat selection, diel activity patterns, nocturnal activity, umbrella species, habitat patch size, habitat mosaic, endangered species conservation, land management, GPS tracking
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