Data from: Modeling connectivity to identify current and future anthropogenic barriers to movement of large carnivores: a case study in the American Southwest

This study sought to identify critical areas for puma (Puma concolor)
movement across the state of Arizona in the American Southwest and to
identify those most likely to be impacted by current and future human land
uses, particularly expanding urban development and associated increases in
traffic volume. Human populations in this region are expanding rapidly,
with the potential for urban centers and busy roads to increasingly act as
barriers to demographic and genetic connectivity of large-bodied,
wide-ranging carnivores such as pumas, whose long-distance movements are
likely to bring them into contact with human land uses and whose low
tolerance both for and from humans may put them at risk unless
opportunities for safe passage through or around human-modified landscapes
are present. Brownian bridge movement models based on global positioning
system collar data collected during bouts of active movement and linear
mixed models were used to model habitat quality for puma movement, then a
wall-to-wall application of circuit theory models was used to produce a
continuous statewide estimate of connectivity for puma movement and to
identify pinch points, or bottlenecks, that may be most at risk of impacts
from current and future traffic volume and expanding development. Rugged,
shrub- and scrub-dominated regions were highlighted as those offering high
quality movement habitat for pumas, and pinch points with the greatest
potential impacts from expanding development and traffic, though widely
distributed, were particularly prominent to the north and east of the city
of Phoenix and along interstate highways in the western portion of the
state. These pinch points likely constitute important conservation
opportunities, where barriers to movement may cause disproportionate loss
of connectivity, but also where actions such as placement of wildlife
crossing structures or conservation easements could enhance connectivity
and prevent detrimental impacts before they occur.