Examples of PanTrack Output

• Observation of how panther activity ranges change over time and space.
  a. from 1981-1998, (showing tool menu).
  b. 2 x 2 panel showing 4 years: 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999.
  

• Comparison of activity ranges of male and female panthers. Male ranges seldom overlap with those of other males, but generally include the ranges of several females. Female ranges often overlap. The territory of dominant male #12 (border outlined with solid line) includes the territories of five female panthers (borders outlined with dashed lines.) Overlapping female ranges are often mother/daughter pairs, as females disperse close to their natal ranges.

• Location of reproductive centers of the panther population and determination of which habitat types are most heavily utilized by reproducing females. Example: Location of females known to have reproduced, with histogram of habitat type representation within their ranges.

• Is there a seasonal component to movement patterns?
  Comparison of panther movement patterns for wet and dry seasons:
  (left) Spring 1995 (dry season of a wet year)
  (right) Fall 1995 (wet season of a wet year)
  
  Panthers move more freely into and across Shark River Slough in a dry year (1989) compared to the previous average year (1988).

• Comparison of dispersal strategies of subadult males vs. females
  a. dispersal of male #29.
  b. dispersal of female #19.
  

• Display of movement patterns of transient male panthers after dispersal from natal ranges:
  Movements of two young males who have dispersed across the Caloosahatchee River, #62 in April 1998, #74 in May 1999. #74 was killed on Highway 27 in September 1999, but #62 remains north of the River.

• Viewing geographic and gender patterns of causes of panther mortality, such as highway mortality and mortality by intraspecific aggression (panthers killed by other panthers).
  

• Characterization of interactions that have resulted in panthers killing other panthers. Intraspecific aggression is one of the major causes of mortality among Florida panthers. Victims are most often young males who infringe upon the territories of established adult males. Habitat is scarce, and young transient males typically move along the fringes of defended territories until an established male dies, leaving his home range vacant. Incursion into an established range sometime leads to a violent confrontation which is most likely to result in the death of the younger panther. A time series of movements depicts panthers #9 (mother of #10); #10 (subadult male offspring); and #12 (adult male whose range includes that of female 9). As a kitten, #10 moves with his mother within her range, undisturbed by the neighboring adult male #12. At about 18 months of age, #10 disperses from his mother's range, into the heart of the range of #12, where he is killed by #12 within 2 months.

The PanTrack tool can be adapted to display and analyze any location coordinates over background map layers. In addition to its application to panther monitoring, it has been used to display annual field observation data for Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows and telemetry observations for American Alligators . It could also be used to display movements of simulated animals generated by spatially explicit, individual-based models.