GIENGER, C.M.*; TRACY, C. RICHARD; University of Nevada, Reno: Modeling monster habitat: Using GIS to predict Heloderma suspectum

Habitat requirements of rare and cryptic species are often largely unknown, and therefore biological investigation may be difficult without some knowledge of preferred habitat. We incorporated locality data from historic records and GIS to produce a habitat model for the Gila monster. We used elevation, surface geology, and climate data to produce a model describing habitat suitability across the species� range in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. We compare the model to historic distribution data and describe factors that potentially limit the occurrence of this rare and unique lizard.