PREDICTIVE MAPPING OF HABITAT SUITABILITY FOR COYOTE (Canis latrans) IN DELAWARE
Date
2017-05
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Little is known about the abundance and distribution of Canis latrans (coyote)
in the northeastern United States because of their relatively recent range expansion.
Most states document presence but at low populations, including Delaware. In this
study, I used observed habitat preference trends in previous studies throughout the
northeast in order to create a predictive coyote habitat suitability map of Delaware.
Important habitat matrices were identified as landcover, especially agriculture and
forest edge, deer densities, biomass and proximity to roads. I then created a spatial
database of corresponding spatial data to use and manipulate in ArcGIS. Using this
habitat data, I created habitat suitability index (HSI) scores, based off of gamma
distributions that corresponded with the habitat preference trends seen in the literature,
for points in a 100 m grid across Delaware, thus creating a habitat suitability map for
coyotes in Delaware. To assess the predictive capabilities of this map, I used coyote
harvest and sighting reports obtained from the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife
from 2014 until present. Of the nine coyote observation points, four were in areas of
low suitability and five were in areas of medium to high suitability. While the small
sample size limits my ability to test this map, it does show areas of potential high
suitability for coyotes throughout the state. The presence of coyotes here can have
both positive and negative ecological effects so these high suitability areas may be
helpful for land managers to direct efforts of management and public education.
Description
Keywords
Wildlife Ecology, Conservation, Coyotes, habitat