Identifying High Risk

Areas for Lynx rufus

on New Jersey Roads
Presented by: Elizabeth Ostrowski
Advisor: Richard Lathrop

Photo 2009 Wayne Dumbleton. Permission via the

Creative Commons 2.0 License.

Objective and Questions

Determine high risk road crossing zones for Lynx Rufus
Is there a spatial pattern to bobcat sightings?
What landscape factors contribute to this spatial
pattern?
Can we use this information to establish a model to
predict high risk road crossing locations?

Study Area and Data

Spatial Pattern
Pattern Type:
Clustered

Landscape Factors
Land Use/ Land Cover
Road Rank
Core Habitat
Streams

Landscape Factors
(cont.)

Multivariate
Analysis
Maxent uses maximum
entropy estimate to establish
a model of potential species
habitat.
It does this using
presence data and
environmental variables

Maxent Results

Conclusions and
Recommendations
Land

use and
road classification
Route

206
-Culverts
-Fencing

Thank you!

Citations:
This Publication was developed using New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Geographic Information System digital data, but this secondary product has not been verified by
NJDEP and is not state-authorized.
Endangered & Nongame Species Program. 2013-10-22. Biotics Database Digital Data Set: Bobcat "On
Road" Source Feature Points. Trenton, New Jersey.
Lathrop, R., Niles, L., Conroy, M., Smith, J., & Danihel, M. (n.d.). R. Lathrop (Ed.), Creating a
More Effective Protection of Endangered and Threatened Species Habitat Through Conservation
Banking
Ford, A. T., Clevenger, A. P., Huijser, M. P., & Dibb, A. (2011). Planning and prioritization strategies
for phased highway mitigation using wildlife-vehicle collision data. Wildlife Biology, 17(3), 253-265.