OOS 54-3 - Wildlife at the border: Species composition and activity patterns along the US-Mexico border

The Sky Islands of Northern Mexico and Southern Arizona are habitat steppingstones for neotropical and temperate species between the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico and the Colorado Plateau in the United States. Indeed, the mountain ranges and associated lowlands have long served as wildlife movement corridors. Anthropogenic development and border barrier construction alter the composition of the land and affect the permeability of this region for wildlife movement. Sky Island Alliance used a network of 100 wildlife cameras to document wildlife occurrence and activity patterns along the U.S.-Mexico border within the Sky Island Region during 2020-2023. We documented more than 130 species or unique taxa across our cameras and witnessed a decline in wildlife detections following the unprecedented drought in 2020. Results of this study are valuable for land management agencies and conservation practitioners and will help elucidate impacts on wildlife of the changing infrastructure along the international border.