POTENTIAL DISTRIBUTION OF RACCOON (Procyon lotor L.) IN THE SIERRA MADRE ORIENTAL, MÉXICO

Abstract

Raccoons (Procyon lotor L.) are medium-sized carnivores about which little is still known in certain regions about their population and habitat status; that is the case of the Sierra Madre Oriental (SMOr) central region. Recently, the application of potential distribution models (PDM) has increased, to locate areas that present environmental conditions capable of supporting the population of a determinate species. In this study, the potential distribution of this mammal in the SMOr was predicted through the MaxEnt algorithm, considering areas in the states of Guanajuato, Querétaro and San Luis Potosí. The model was carried out with 30 records and 10 environmental variables. The quality was good (AUC=0.984±0.006), and the variables that contributed most to the model were: distance to bodies of water (25.6 %), isothermal condition (22.4 %), types of vegetation (12.7 %), plant coverage (9.3 %) and density of human population (7.6 %). The model estimated 39.2 % (161,685 km2) of the study area as adequate habitat for raccoon distribution, and the largest potential area was the southwest of the study area because there was more continuous habitat, compared to the north and south region, where there were isolated vegetation patches.