Agent-based modelling has the potential to inform land managers in decision-making, and can be used to supplement empirical data. These models use simple rules at the level of the individual to create complex system-level behaviour. I coded an agent-based model integrated with least-cost algorithms to investigate the effect of human exploitation on jaguar movement across a corridor area. In a preliminary pilot study for the rest of my PhD, this included human hunting of prey species. Preliminary results showed that the hunting of prey species had effects on both the abundance of jaguars, through a reduction in jaguar population carrying capacity, and on the movement of jaguars through man-made wildlife corridors. The latter was caused by both the avoidance of human hunters by jaguars and the depletion of jaguar prey species. The current findings are pilot results at the beginning of my PhD, and more work is yet to come. The final aim of this PhD is to contribute towards the conservation of jaguars in Central America, by creating a tool that can be used by conservationists.
