The Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) is a relatively well studied species, but some aspects of its habitat requirements remain poorly understood. While it has been well established that the most important threat to panthers include limited habitat area and continued habitat loss and fragmentation, the importance of roads in this context has not been determined. The goal of this research is to determine the influence of roads on the movement patterns of the Florida panther. Panther telemetry data from 1981 until 2003 was used, as well as detailed road networks and vegetation maps. The influence of roads on individual panthers was determined through an analysis of: 1) vehicular mortality; 2) road crossing behavior; 3) road barrier effects; and 4) effectiveness of preventative measures. Results indicate that vehicle collisions continue to be a major threat to the Florida panther population, specifically adult males. Major roads form more of a barrier to movement than minor roads, but females are affected more than males. The combination of wildlife underpasses and high right-of-way fencing on I-75 has been extremely effective at vehicular mortality prevention, but the roadway remains a major barrier, particularly for female panthers. This has essentially segregated the movement of the sexes and has fragmented not only the limited habitat of the Florida panther, but also segments of the adult population critical to the propagation of the species.

La fragmentation des paysages et des habitats induite par les infrastructures linéaires de transport terrestres est une des principales causes de la perte de biodiversité actuelle. Parmi ces infrastructures, la route est un acteur majeur de fragmentation, d’autant plus qu’elle possède des effets propres dus au trafic circulant qui induit des collisions véhicule-faune et une pollution des paysages. Afin de diminuer ces effets négatifs, des mesures de réduction sont mises en place, notamment des passages à faune permettant de faire traverser la faune de part et d’autre des voies. La route crée aussi de nouveaux habitats potentiels pour les espèces de la petite faune dans des paysages anthropisés et fragmentés. Dans ce mémoire sont démontrées (1) la potentialité d’habitat de différents éléments routiers ; (2) la possibilité de prédire les collisions véhicule-faune afin de positionner au mieux les mesures de réduction ; (3) l’importance de la méthodologie dans l’évaluation de l’efficacité des passages à faune ; et (4) la possibilité d’améliorer les passages à faune existants. Ces résultats permettront d’améliorer les stratégies de défragmentation des paysages. / Habitats and landscape fragmentation, caused by linear land transports infrastructures, is one of the major cause for the current loss of biodiversity. Among those infrastructures, road is a major cause of fragmentation, especially as it possess specific traffic-linked effects, which induces wildlife-vehicles collisions and landscape pollution. In order to decrease those negative effects, mitigation measures are taken, among which wildlife crossings, enabling wildlife to cross the road. Road also creates new potential habitats for small wildlife species in anthropogenic and fragmented landscapes. In this essay are shown (1) the potential as habitat of different road-linked elements; (2) the possibility to anticipate wildlife-vehicles collisions in order to improve the position of mitigation measures; (3) the importance of methodology in the evaluation of wildlife crossings effectiveness; and (4) the possibility to improve existing wildlife crossings. Those results will allow improving landscape defragmentation strategies.