Optimization of habit infrastructure sitres for connectivity of puma concolor habitat in california
Major roads and freeways have become an increasingly detrimental issue for Puma concolor populations' access to mating and hunting in the last two decades. Measuring habitat fragmentation and choosing site locations for land protection and freeway crossing infrastructure This analysis examines two regions of California with different land cover distribution and creates several varying habitat suitability models, to analyze changes in visualization and fragmentation metrics. Several habitat maps are produced and landscape metrics in R are used to break down and represent how major roadways fragment the landscape for the California mountain lion. Finally, optimization of point locations for habitat infrastructure are identified by points at which major roads intersect patches of high habitat suitability.