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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #82511
Title: USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TO MAP VEGETATION AND DETERMINE OCELOT HABITAT

Author
item Anderson, Gerald
item BRAY, MARTY - USFISH&WILDLIFE,PLUSH,OR
item GRIFFIN, DOUG - USFISH&WILDLIFE,BUTLER,OK
item MCDOWELL, P - USFISH&WILDLIF,ANAHUAC,TX
item Swanson, Wayne
item TEWES, MICHAEL - TAMU,KINGSVILLE,TX

Submitted to: Biannual Workshop in Color Photography and Videography in Resource
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/5/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Aerial photography was used to map different types of vegetation on the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. Various differences in the type and structure of the vegetation communities on the refuge were easily identified on the photographs. The vegetation map created from the aerial photography was computerized and combined with information about the location of a single female ocelot at various times throughout the day. Analysis indicated that the ocelot preferred vegetation types with a dense woody understory and avoided open areas with few woody plants in the understory. Additional analysis is needed to determine the most common area of the refuge used by the cat and the characteristic vegetation type associated with the area.

Technical Abstract: The ocelot (Felis pardlis) is a medium-sized cat native to south Texas. Remaining populations exist on increasingly isolated tracts of habitat such as the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, and privately owned lands. The specific objectives for the study were to produce a detailed vegetation map of the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge and to evaluate ocelot movement and utilization patterns b spatially linking the vegetation data with multi-year radio telemetry data. Photointerpretation of the stereo-pair images for the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge produced 213 different polygons that were categorized as being one of 12 different vegetation types occurring on the refuge. Ocelot selection of the different vegetation communities indicated a preference for areas with high density thornshrub understories and an avoidance of open areas with few woody plants in the understory. Further analysis is needed to confirm these findings and to determine the home range and core use area of the ocelot.