Although tiger habitats are declining globally, the researchers using the new tools were also able to identify areas of forest which didn’t currently have tigers but which could support them in future. These regions could be restored to make them appropriate for encouraging tigers to live there, potentially increasing their habitat.
“There’s still a lot more room for tigers in the world than even tiger experts thought,” said lead researcher Eric Sanderson, vice president of urban conservation at the New York Botanical Garden. “We were only able to figure that out because we brought together all of this data from NASA and integrated it with information from the field.”
As well as tiger habitats, researchers are also looking at the habitats of jaguars, which are threatened in their homes in South America. Here, researchers used data from NASA satellites to map out areas for conservation based on habitats that were used by jaguars as well as other animals, which could be protected from threats like deforestation.
“Managers and conservationists could use the new spatial information to see where current forest zoning is protecting key animals, and where it may need re-evaluation,” said lead researcher Sebastian Martinuzzi of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Another study looked at African elephants, using the amount of vegetation in the areas where elephants prefer to spend time. They found that elephants wanted dense canopy forest more than open areas where humans are present, helping conservationists decide which habitats are most important to protect.
