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Landscape connectivity for wildlife: development and validation of multispecies linkage maps
Author(s) -
Koen Erin L.,
Bowman Jeff,
Sadowski Carrie,
Walpole Aaron A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
methods in ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.425
H-Index - 105
ISSN - 2041-210X
DOI - 10.1111/2041-210x.12197
Subject(s) - wildlife , grid cell , habitat , grid , current (fluid) , site selection , wildlife conservation , node (physics) , perimeter , geography , computer science , cartography , environmental science , ecology , geology , biology , mathematics , oceanography , geometry , geodesy , structural engineering , engineering , political science , law
SummaryThe ability to identify regions of high functional connectivity for multiple wildlife species is of conservation interest with respect to habitat management and corridor planning. We present a method that does not require independent, field‐collected data, is insensitive to the placement of source and destination sites (nodes) for modeling connectivity, and does not require the selection of a focal species. In the first step of our approach, we created a cost surface that represented permeability of the landscape to movement for a suite of species. We randomly selected nodes around the perimeter of the buffered study area and used circuit theory to connect pairs of nodes. When the buffer was removed, the resulting current density map represented, for each grid cell, the probability of use by moving animals. We found that using nodes that were randomly located around the perimeter of the buffered study area was less biased by node placement than randomly selecting nodes within the study area. We also found that a buffer of ≥ 20% of the study area width was sufficient to remove the effects of node placement on current density. We tested our method by creating a map of connectivity in the Algonquin to Adirondack region in eastern North America, and we validated the map with independently collected data. We found that amphibians and reptiles were more likely to cross roads in areas of high current density, and fishers (Pekania [Martes] pennanti) used areas with high current density within their home ranges. Our approach provides an efficient and cost effective method of predicting areas with relatively high landscape connectivity for multiple species..