Distribution modelling and conservation assessment of the pampas cat (Leopardus colocolo) in the Uruguayan Savannah

TIRELLI F.; TRIGO T.; ESPINOSA C.; MACDONALD D.W.; QUEIROLO D.; PETERS F.; LUCHERINI M.; DA SILVA L.; KASPER C.B.; MAZIM F.; EIZIRIK E.

Perth

Conferencia; 12th International Mammal Conference; 2017

The pampas cat (Leopardus colocolo) is a poorly known small felid that occurs in open habitats of South America. Previous studies have suggested that the disjunct pampas cat population occurring in the critically endangered Uruguayan Savannah ecoregion are a distinct ?Evolutionarily Significant Unit? (ESU), and as such should be the target of separate conservation assessment. Here, we developed spatial distribution models for this ESU, using them to estimate population size and then assess its conservation status based on IUCN criteria. We constructed two models (with and without anthropogenic variables), each of them built separately with two different algorithms (Maxent and Maxlike). All models were very similar, with strongly correlated results (rs>0.88; P