Habitat Suitability and Connectivity for San Joaquin Kit Fox on Drainage Impaired Farmland

The San Luis Unit (SLU), part of the Central Valley Project in the San Joaquin Valley of California, suffers from subsurface drainage problems, remediation of which may require that some lands be retired from irrigated agricultural production. The California State University, Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery Program (ESRP), conducted analyses using ModelBuilder to assess habitat suitability and habitat connectivity for the San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) in the SLU under current and alternative land use scenarios. Results of these analyses suggest how land-retirement scenarios can potentially lead to a net gain of available habitat for this endangered species. In addition, the habitat connectivity model identifies lands that, if retired from agricultural production and correctly managed, could help provide new species-movement corridors through the SLU to help support and maintain kit fox population recovery.

Courtesy of California State University, Stanislaus—Endangered Species Recovery Program.