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 In
southwest Florida panthers prefer mature upland forests (hardwood hammocks
and pinelands) over all other habitat types (Maehr
1990a). Much of this prime panther habitat is north of I-75. Panthers
in this area weigh more and successfully raise more kittens than those
south of I-75
(Schortemeyer 1994).
Deer and hog densities often exceed 1 animal per 20 hectares. South of
I-75, deer and hog densities rarely exceed 1 per 40 hectares. Panthers
struggle when only deer are present and their density is below 1 per 40
hectares. They thrive when deer and hogs exceed a density of 1 per 40
hectares
(Schortemeyer 1994).
Hogs are scarce in
the Everglades and deer are limited when water levels are high.
People also
like higher drier ground. From the panther's point of view, some
of the best habitats in south Florida were along the Atlantic coastal
ridge and the Gulf coast flatlands (Schortemeyer
1994). In the late 1800's, Charles Barney Cory reported finding fresh
tracks of seven panthers in one week within thirty miles of Lake Worth.
Major drainages such as the New River in Broward County had extensive
hardwood hammocks bordering areas of sparser vegetation maintained by
fire.
Much of
the protected land in south Florida is wetlands, but panthers depend on
uplands for their survival. The uplands in the panther's habitat are the
most threatened. To the west a new state university has been built and
the suburbs of Naples and Ft. Myers continue to grow. To the north land
in cattle ranches is increasingly being converted to citrus.
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To review
how panthers use the south Florida landscape, compare the map of
natural communities within the panther's range to the map of the
location of radio-collared panthers. Three times each week (always
during the day and usually during the morning) biologists locate
radio-collared panthers from an airplane and plot their locations
with dots on a map.
The map
shown represents several years of location points. The greatest
concentration of dots is in the area of dense forest (Maehr
1997) and is represented on the map by a sideways "L".The
"L" is bounded on the south by I-75 and on the east by
SR 29.
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The south-north
portion of the "L" runs through the Fakahatchee Strand State
Preserve (mixed hardwood swamp) and the Florida Panther National Wildlife
Refuge (cypress and mixed hardwood swamps, hammocks, pinelands, and wet
prairies).
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Bear
Island Unit, mosaic of marsh, hardwoods, pinelands, and cypress swamp |
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Fakahatchee
Strand State Preserve. Within the preserve is the largest strand of
native royal palms as well as the greatest variety of orchids, ferns,
and bromeliads in North America (Jewell
1997) |
The west-east
portion of the "L" runs through the Florida Panther National
Wildlife Refuge, upland private ranches, the Bear Island Unit of the Big
Cypress
Preserve (marsh, hardwood hammocks, pinelands, and cypress swamps), and
the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation.
 Habitat
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Lands and Panther Survival |
