A range-wide model of landscape connectivity and conservation for the jaguar, Panthera onca

Rabinowitz and Zeller built a continental model of jaguar connectivity spanning from Mexico to Argentina, identifying the corridors linking known jaguar populations across the species' entire range. Using a least-cost approach parameterized by expert knowledge and habitat data, they mapped a network of dispersal routes that became the scientific backbone of the Jaguar Corridor Initiative. The work reframed jaguar conservation from protecting isolated reserves to maintaining a connected, range-wide metapopulation, arguing that preserving movement between core areas was essential to long-term survival and genetic health. It exemplified how connectivity modeling can guide conservation at a hemispheric scale. The paper remains a landmark in applying landscape-connectivity science to a wide-ranging felid and in operationalizing corridors as a continental conservation strategy.