Research overview: kodkod forest dependence and fragmentation

The kodkod is strongly tied to forest, and this overview reviews research on how forest loss and fragmentation affect it. Studies in Chile show the species using native forest, forest fragments, and forested corridors, and tolerating some human-modified landscapes such as plantations and rural mosaics provided sufficient cover remains. However, the conversion of temperate forest to agriculture and pasture, along with fragmentation, reduces and isolates habitat. The kodkod ability to use remnant patches and shrubby cover offers some resilience, but connectivity is crucial for maintaining populations. Understanding how the species responds to fragmentation is central to its conservation, since the future of this forest-dependent cat depends on retaining and linking the remaining native forests of southern South America.