1. Panther Reviews and Habitat Conservation Trust Resources South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Spencer Simon Trust Resources Supervisor

2. Panther Conservation – Background Trust Resources South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach 80 to 100 panthers Federally listed as endangered Wide ranging, secretive, and occur at low densities Require large contiguous areas Habitat selection is related to prey availability (i.e.,habitats that make prey vulnerable to stalking and capturing) Indirect effects may occur 25 miles away from an impact

3. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources Direct Effects –Loss of habitat (feeding, breeding, sheltering) –Fragmentation of habitat –Impacts to prey base Indirect Effects –Road mortality –Disturbance (avoidance) –Habitat degradation (good habitat is less valuable next to development) –Intra-specific aggression Things to Consider

4. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources Where is the project located? What will be impacted? What is the mitigation/compensation? Things to Consider

5. Primary Zone: lands that are the most important to support a stable panther population (80-100) south of the Caloosahatchee. Secondary Zone: lands capable of supporting the panther population in the Primary Zone, but where habitat restoration may be needed. Dispersal Zone: the route most likely to be used by panthers dispersing out of south Florida, crossing the Caloosahatchee River, and dispersing into south-central Florida South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources Where is the Project Located?

6. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources Where is the Project Located?

7. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources Zone of Impacted Lands Zone of Compensation Lands Multiplier Primary 1 Secondary1.5 SecondaryPrimary0.667 Landscape Compensation Multipliers 1 Primary Zone = Dispersal Zone

8. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources Base Ratio Currently = 2.5, will be re-evaluated as needed Designed to protect sufficient acreage of Primary Zone lands to support 90 panthers Based upon an analysis of at-risk lands Does not include individual, single family residential development less than 5 acres

9. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources Panther Habitat Units Habitat suitability values for use in assessing habitat value to the Florida panther adapted from Kautz et al. (2006). Water 0 STA 4.5 Cypress swamp 9 Urban 0 Shrub swamp 5 Sand pine scrub 9 Coastal strand 1 Shrub and brush 5 Sandhill 9 Reservoir 1.5 Dry prairie 6 Hardwood-Pine forest 9 Mangrove swamp 2 Grassland/pasture 7 Pine forest 9 Salt marsh 2 Freshwater marsh 9 Xeric oak scrub 10 Exotic plants3 Bottomland hardwood 9 Hardwood forest 10 Cropland 4 Bay swamp 9 Orchards/groves 4 Hardwood swamp 9 Land Cover TypeValueLand Cover TypeValueLand Cover TypeValue What Will Be Impacted?

10. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources What Will Be Impacted? Common Currency: Panther Habitat Units (PHUs) –PHUs = Number of acres impacted multiplied by the habitat suitability value for a given habitat. Example: 50 acres of pine flatwoods is 450 PHUs (50 x 9 = 450) (note: final “PHUs required” calculation has to factor in landscape location and base ratio)

11. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources What is the mitigation/compensation? PHUs Wildlife Crossings Conservation Easements Conservation Banking Direct Land Acquisition Restoration/Enhancement Conservation Fund (?)

12. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources A 100 acre residential development is proposed in the secondary zone and would be compensated in the primary zone. 90 acres are pine flatwoods and 10 acres are melaleuca. –To determine PHUs, the habitat acreage is multiplied by the habitat suitability value for each habitat: –(90 acres x 9 (suitability value for pine) = 810) + (10 acres x 3 (suitability value for melaleuca = 30) = 840 PHUs –840 x 2.5 (base ratio) = 2,100 x 0.67 (landscape multiplier) = 1,407 PHUs 1,407 PHUs will be needed to mitigate for impacts Example of Compensation Calculation

13. South Florida Ecological Services Office - Vero Beach Trust Resources Trish Adams 772-562-3909 x232 Trish_Adams@fws.gov Spencer Simon 772-562-3909 x345 spencer_simon@fws.gov Further Questions http://endangered.fws.gov/hcp/hcpplan.html