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Adding biological realism to assessments of landscape connectivity
Citation:
SCHUMAKER, N. H. AND A. F. BROOKES. Adding biological realism to assessments of landscape connectivity. Presented at Wildlife Society 18th Annual Conference, Waikoloa, HI, November 05 - 10, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
Researchers have long appreciated the practical value of connectivity and source-sink analyses.
Description:
Researchers have long appreciated the practical value of connectivity and source-sink analyses. The importance of these assessments for conservation, planning, and reserve design has motivated many empirical and simulation studies. But there are few modeling tools available that can identify demographic sources and sinks on a landscape. And methods being used to quantify landscape connectivity tend to balance tractability against biological realism. Linkages between connectivity and source-sink models, and greater biological and ecological realism are both needed before landscape connectivity studies can contribute fully to land management. Here we illustrate how a new spatially-explicit population model (HexSim) can be used to simultaneously evaluate source-sink dynamics and landscape connectivity. What most significantly distinguishes our approach is that source-sink dynamics and connectivity are emergent properties of HexSim simulations. The analysis does not require that landscapes be decomposed into habitat patches, or that sources, sinks, or dispersal corridors be identified in advance. Fluxes may be tracked between arbitrary locations such as political or ownership units. HexSim quantifies source and sink strength, and it computes probabilities that individuals will move between locations. We illustrate how this methodology can be used to quantify the importance of individual landscape elements for region-wide population distribution and viability. As HexSim is a freely available, and very general modeling framework, this new technology should be useful to a wide audience