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Connectivity for species on the move: supporting climate‐driven range shifts
Author(s) -
Littlefield Caitlin E,
Krosby Meade,
Michalak Julia L,
Lawler Joshua J
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1002/fee.2043
Subject(s) - climate change , landscape connectivity , environmental resource management , pace , biodiversity , habitat fragmentation , range (aeronautics) , geography , climate change adaptation , ecology , habitat destruction , adaptation (eye) , environmental science , biological dispersal , biology , population , materials science , demography , geodesy , neuroscience , sociology , composite material
Many species are already responding to global climate change by shifting their ranges to track suitable climatic conditions. However, habitat loss and fragmentation, coupled with the rapidity of climate change, make it difficult for species to keep pace. It is therefore unsurprising that enhancing landscape connectivity is the most frequently cited climate‐adaptation strategy for conserving biodiversity. Yet most connectivity planning, even if intended to address climate change, does not directly take climate change and climate‐driven range shifts into account. Nonetheless, several approaches that do explicitly address the unique challenges posed by climate change have recently emerged. We review these connectivity modeling approaches: specifically, how they incorporate species' responses, identify movement routes, and address uncertainties. Despite this proliferation of approaches, conceptual and analytical hurdles remain, and meeting these challenges will be critical to achieving effective landscape connectivity for species in the face of climate change.