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Yang N, Price M, Xu Y, Zhu Y, Zhong X, Cheng Y, Wang B. Assessing Global Efforts in the Selection of Vertebrates as Umbrella Species for Conservation. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:509. [PMID: 37106710 PMCID: PMC10135637 DOI: 10.3390/biology12040509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
The umbrella-species strategy has been proposed as an attainable tool to achieve multi-species and community conservation with limited investment. There have been many umbrella-related studies since the concept's inception; thus, a summary of global study efforts and recommended umbrella species is important for understanding advances in the field and facilitating conservation applications. Here, we collated 213 recommended umbrella species of terrestrial vertebrates from 242 scientific articles published during 1984-2021 and analyzed their geographic patterns, biological features, and conservation statuses to identify global trends in the selection of umbrella species. We found a considerable geographic bias: most studies and, consequently, recommended umbrella species are from the Northern Hemisphere. There is also a strong taxonomic bias, with grouses (order Galliformes) and large carnivores being the most popular umbrella species and amphibians and reptiles being largely overlooked. In addition, wide-ranging and non-threatened species were frequently recommended as umbrella species. Given the observed biases and trends, we caution that appropriate species need to be chosen for each location, and it is important to confirm that popular, wide-ranging species are effective umbrella species. Moreover, amphibians and reptiles should be investigated for their potential as umbrella species. The umbrella-species strategy has many strengths and, if applied appropriately, may be one of the best options in today's conservation research and funding landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Yang
- Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610225, China;
| | - Megan Price
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China;
| | - Yu Xu
- Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Biodiversity Conservation in Karst Mountainous Areas of Southwestern China, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China; (Y.X.); (Y.Z.)
| | - Yun Zhu
- Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Biodiversity Conservation in Karst Mountainous Areas of Southwestern China, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China; (Y.X.); (Y.Z.)
| | - Xue Zhong
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China;
| | - Yuehong Cheng
- Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration Bureau, Wenchuan 623006, China;
| | - Bin Wang
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China;
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Dertien JS, Baldwin RF. Does scale or method matter for conservation? Application of directional and omnidirectional connectivity models in spatial prioritizations. FRONTIERS IN CONSERVATION SCIENCE 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2023.976914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
IntroductionThe maintenance of habitat connections between fragmented habitat patches is vital for the conservation of wildlife populations and ecosystem functioning. The awareness of connectivity issues for species conservation has resulted in a growth of connectivity modeling and the application of these results in conservation planning. Such connectivity modeling efforts can include several decisions or data limitations, which could influence the connectivity results and ultimately a systematic conservation plan (SCP). However, there has been little investigation of how these different decisions on species, scale, and extent influence the ultimate conservation planning outcomes.MethodsWe modeled the connectivity of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), and black bear (Ursus americanus), three species with varying ecological requirements, through the Congaree Biosphere Region, South Carolina, USA. We modeled habitat suitability for each species using boosted regression trees and converted these results into resistance layers for the connectivity analyses. We compared models for each species at multistate regional and local extents using directional and omnidirectional circuit theory approaches. We then used the results from each modeling combination as conservation goals for three different SCPs to determine how connectivity modeling decisions may influence geographic conservation decisions.ResultsThere was substantial positive spatial correlation between the three connectivity models of each species, and there appeared to be general agreement among mammals as to most important primary corridors. Across all species, the greatest agreement was between the omnidirectional and local directional models as compared with the regional directional plan, which highlighted a unique corridor. The omnidirectional conservation plan required the least amount of planning units to achieve its conservation goals, followed by the local and then regional directional plans that required over 200 km2 more land area to be conserved.DiscussionOur results indicate that overall variations in connectivity modeling decisions may have only a moderate impact on the identification of important movement corridors for conservation at the local scale. Practitioners should base modeling decisions on the ecology of the study region, conservation question, and available computing resource.
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Identifying Connectivity Conservation Priorities among Protected Areas in Qinling-Daba Mountains, China. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14084377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Mountain biodiversity is under unprecedented threat due to climate change and excessive human activity. Although protected areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of nature conservation, it is increasingly hard for isolated PAs to maintain the species and ecological processes they depend on in the long term. Linking nature reserves to form a large and connected conservation network is regarded as the optimal measure, but research in this field is lacking in China. We mapped PAs in the Qinling-Daba Mountains in China and identified corridors among PAs and the corridors’ key nodes using a least-cost analysis and circuit theory to model an ecological connectivity conservation network for the region. The results showed that this large ecological network has 46 habitat patches connected by 88 corridors, with 69 pinchpoints, 86 barriers and 37 stepping stones in and around the corridors. In this study, 34.86% of suitable habitats have little or no protection and, in the future, these areas should be developed with caution, with more emphasis on protecting their ecological connectivity. This study used connectivity analysis to construct large ecological corridors based on PAs, providing a framework for connectivity conservation at the biogeographic scale and a scientific reference for further, subsequent conservation actions.
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Abstract
Conservation approaches in tiger landscapes have focused on single species and their habitat. Further, the limited extent of the existing protected area network in India lacks representativeness, habitat connectivity, and integration in the larger landscape. Our objective was to identify sites important for connected tiger habitat and biodiversity potential in the Greater Panna Landscape, central India. Further, we aimed to set targets at the landscape level for conservation and prioritize these sites within each district in the landscape as specific management/conservation zones. We used earth observation data to derive an index of biodiversity potential. Marxan was used to identify sites that met tiger and biodiversity conservation targets with minimum costs. We found that to protect 50% of the tiger habitat with connectivity, 20% of the landscape area must be conserved. To conserve 100% of high biodiversity potential, 50% moderate biodiversity potential, and 25% low biodiversity potential, 55% of the landscape area must be conserved. To represent both tiger habitat and biodiversity, 62% of the total landscape area requires conservation or restoration intervention. The prioritized zones can prove significant for hierarchical decision making, involving multiple stakeholders in the landscape, including other tiger range areas.
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Pokharel M, Subba A, Rai D, Bhandari S, Ghimirey Y. Fine-scale ecological and anthropogenic variables predict the habitat use and detectability of sloth bears in the Churia habitat of east Nepal. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8512. [PMID: 35136560 PMCID: PMC8809446 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2021] [Revised: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Once widespread throughout the tropical forests of the Indian Subcontinent, the sloth bears have suffered a rapid range collapse and local extirpations in the recent decades. A significant portion of their current distribution range is situated outside of the protected areas (PAs). These unprotected sloth bear populations are under tremendous human pressures, but little is known about the patterns and determinants of their occurrence in most of these regions. The situation is more prevalent in Nepal where virtually no systematic information is available for sloth bears living outside of the PAs. We undertook a spatially replicated sign survey-based single-season occupancy study intending to overcome this information gap for the sloth bear populations residing in the Trijuga forest of southeast Nepal. Sloth bear sign detection histories and field-based covariates data were collected between 2 October and 3 December 2020 at the 74 randomly chosen 4-km2 grid cells. From our results, the model-averaged site use probability (ψ ± SE) was estimated to be 0.432 ± 0.039, which is a 13% increase from the naïve estimate (0.297) not accounting for imperfect detections of sloth bear signs. The presence of termite mound and the distance to the nearest water source were the most important variables affecting the habitat use probability of sloth bears. The average site-level detectability (p ± SE) of sloth bear signs was estimated to be 0.195 ± 0.003 and was significantly determined by the index of human disturbances. We recommend considering the importance of fine-scale ecological and anthropogenic factors in predicting the sloth bear-habitat relationships across their range in the Churia habitat of Nepal, and more specifically in the unprotected areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manoj Pokharel
- Department of Environmental ScienceTri‐Chandra Multiple CampusKathmanduNepal
| | - Asmit Subba
- Central Department of ZoologyTribhuvan UniversityKathmanduNepal
| | - Dipa Rai
- Department of Environmental ScienceGoldenGate International CollegeKathmanduNepal
| | - Simrik Bhandari
- Department of Environmental Science and EngineeringKathmandu UniversityDhulikhelNepal
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Salgueiro PA, Valerio F, Silva C, Mira A, Rabaça JE, Santos SM. Multispecies landscape functional connectivity enhances local bird species' diversity in a highly fragmented landscape. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2021; 284:112066. [PMID: 33561758 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Revised: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Local species assemblages are likely the result of habitat and landscape filtering. However, there is still limited knowledge on how landscape functional connectivity complements habitat attributes in mediating local species assemblages in real-world fragmented landscapes. In this study, we set up a non-manipulative experimental design in a standard production forest to demonstrate how functional connectivity determines the spatial distribution of a bird community. We test single- and multispecies spatially explicit, landscape functional connectivity models framed within the circuit theory, considering also patch attributes describing habitat size and quality, to weight their effects on species occurrence and community assemblage. We found that single-species functional connectivity effects contributed positively for occurrence of each species. However, they rarely provided competing alternatives in predicting community parameters when compared to multispecies connectivity models. Incorporating multispecies connectivity showed more consistent effects for all community parameters, than single-species models, since the overlap between species' dispersal abilities in the landscape shows poor agreement. Habitat size and quality, though less important, were also determinant in explaining community parameters while possibly relating to the provision of suitable nesting and foraging conditions. Both habitat and landscape filters concur to govern community assembly, though likely influencing different processes: while landscape connectivity determines which species can reach a patch, habitat quality determines which species settle in the patch. Our results also suggest that surrogating multispecies connectivity from single species has potential to source bias by assuming species perceive landscape and its barriers similarly. Inference on this issue must be gathered from as much species as possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro A Salgueiro
- UBC - Conservation Biology Lab, Portugal; LabOr - Laboratory of Ornithology, Portugal; Department of Biology, University of Évora. Mitra, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal.
| | - Francesco Valerio
- UBC - Conservation Biology Lab, Portugal; CIBIO-UE - Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Pole of Évora, Portugal; Department of Biology, University of Évora. Mitra, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal.
| | - Carmo Silva
- UBC - Conservation Biology Lab, Portugal; MED-Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, USA; Department of Biology, University of Évora. Mitra, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal.
| | - António Mira
- UBC - Conservation Biology Lab, Portugal; MED-Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, USA; Department of Biology, University of Évora. Mitra, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal.
| | - João E Rabaça
- LabOr - Laboratory of Ornithology, Portugal; MED-Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, USA; Department of Biology, University of Évora. Mitra, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal.
| | - Sara M Santos
- UBC - Conservation Biology Lab, Portugal; MED-Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, USA; Department of Biology, University of Évora. Mitra, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal.
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Thapa K, Thapa GJ, Bista D, Jnawali SR, Acharya KP, Khanal K, Kandel RC, Karki Thapa M, Shrestha S, Lama ST, Sapkota NS. Landscape variables affecting the Himalayan red panda Ailurus fulgens occupancy in wet season along the mountains in Nepal. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243450. [PMID: 33306732 PMCID: PMC7740865 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 11/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The Himalayan red panda is an endangered mammal endemic to Eastern Himalayan and
South Western China. Data deficiency often hinders understanding of their
spatial distribution and habitat use, which is critical for species conservation
planning. We used sign surveys covering the entire potential red panda habitat
over 22,453 km2 along the mid-hills and high mountains encompassing
six conservation complexes in Nepal. To estimate red panda distribution using an
occupancy framework, we walked 1,451 km along 446 sampled grid cells out of
4,631 grid cells in the wet season of 2016. We used single-species,
single-season models to make inferences regarding covariates influencing
detection and occupancy. We estimated the probability of detection and occupancy
based on model-averaging techniques and drew predictive maps showing
site-specific occupancy estimates. We observed red panda in 213 grid cells and
found covariates such as elevation, distance to water sources, and bamboo cover
influencing the occupancy. Red panda detection probability p^(SE) estimated at 0.70 (0.02). We estimated red
panda site occupancy (sampled grid cells) and landscape occupancy (across the
potential habitat) Ψ^(SE) at 0.48 (0.01) and 0.40 (0.02)
respectively. The predictive map shows a site-specific variation in the spatial
distribution of this arboreal species along the priority red panda conservation
complexes. Data on their spatial distribution may serve as a baseline for future
studies and are expected to aid in species conservation planning in priority
conservation complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kanchan Thapa
- WWF Nepal, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal
- * E-mail: (KT); (DB)
| | | | - Damber Bista
- Red Panda Network, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal
- * E-mail: (KT); (DB)
| | | | | | | | - Ram Chandra Kandel
- Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Babarmahal,
Kathmandu, Nepal
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Brennan A, Beytell P, Aschenborn O, Du Preez P, Funston PJ, Hanssen L, Kilian JW, Stuart‐Hill G, Taylor RD, Naidoo R. Characterizing multispecies connectivity across a transfrontier conservation landscape. J Appl Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Angela Brennan
- WWF‐US Washington DC USA
- Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- Institute for Environment, Resources and Sustainability University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Piet Beytell
- Directorate of Scientific Services Ministry of Environment and Tourism Windhoek Namibia
| | | | - Pierre Du Preez
- Ministry of Environment and Tourism Directorate of Wildlife and National Parks Okaukuejo Namibia
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Robin Naidoo
- WWF‐US Washington DC USA
- Institute for Environment, Resources and Sustainability University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
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Meyer NFV, Moreno R, Reyna-Hurtado R, Signer J, Balkenhol N. Towards the restoration of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor for large mammals in Panama: comparing multi-species occupancy to movement models. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2020; 8:3. [PMID: 31938545 PMCID: PMC6953263 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-019-0186-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Habitat fragmentation is a primary driver of wildlife loss, and the establishment of biological corridors is a conservation strategy to mitigate this problem. Identifying areas with high potential functional connectivity typically relies on the assessment of landscape resistance to movement. Many modeling approaches exist to estimate resistance surfaces but to date only a handful of studies compared the outputs resulting from different methods. Moreover, as many species are threatened by fragmentation, effective biodiversity conservation requires that corridors simultaneously meet the needs of multiple species. While many corridor planning initiatives focus on single species, we here used a combination of data types and analytical approaches to identify and compare corridors for several large mammal species within the Panama portion of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. METHODS We divided a large mammal assemblage into two groups depending on the species sensitivity to habitat disturbance. We subsequently used cost-distance methods to produce multi-species corridors which were modeled on the basis of (i) occupancy of nine species derived from camera trapping data collected across Panama, and (ii) step selection functions based on GPS telemetry data from white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari, puma Puma concolor, and ocelot Leopardus pardalis. In addition to different data sources and species groups, we also used different transformation curves to convert occupancy and step-selection results into landscape resistance values. RESULTS Corridors modeled differed between sensitive and tolerant species, between the data sets, and between the transformation curves. There were more corridors identified for tolerant species than for sensitive species. For tolerant species, several corridors developed with occupancy data overlapped with corridors produced with step selection functions, but this was not the case for sensitive species. CONCLUSION Our study represents the first comparison of multispecies corridors parametrized with step selection functions versus occupancy models. Given the wide variability in output corridors, our findings underscore the need to consider the ecological requirements of several species. Our results also suggest that occupancy models can be used for estimating connectivity of generalist species. Finally, this effort allowed to identify important corridors within the MBC (i) at a country scale and (ii) for several species simultaneously to accurately inform the local authorities in conservation planning. The approach we present is reproducible in other sites and/or for other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ninon F. V. Meyer
- Departamento de Conservación de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Lerma, Campeche Mexico
- Wildlife Sciences, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Fundación Yaguará Panamá, Ciudad del Saber, Panama
| | - Ricardo Moreno
- Fundación Yaguará Panamá, Ciudad del Saber, Panama
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón Panama
| | - Rafael Reyna-Hurtado
- Departamento de Conservación de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Lerma, Campeche Mexico
| | - Johannes Signer
- Wildlife Sciences, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Niko Balkenhol
- Wildlife Sciences, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
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Shi X, Gong C, Zhang L, Hu J, Ouyang Z, Xiao Y. Which Species Should We Focus On? Umbrella Species Assessment in Southwest China. BIOLOGY 2019; 8:biology8020042. [PMID: 31126137 PMCID: PMC6628075 DOI: 10.3390/biology8020042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Revised: 05/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In conservation biology, umbrella species are often used as agents for a broader set of species, or as representatives of an ecosystem, and their conservation is expected to benefit a large number of naturally co-occurring species. Southwest China is home to not only global biodiversity hotspots, but also rapid economic and population growth and extensive changes in land use. However, because of the large regional span, the diverse species distributions, and the difficulty of field investigations, traditional methods used to assess umbrella species are not suitable for implementation in Southwest China. In the current study, we assessed 810 key protected species from seven taxa by indicator value analysis, correlation analysis, and factor analysis. We selected 32 species as umbrella species, whose habitats overlapped the habitats of 97% of the total species. Furthermore, the selected species were significantly correlated with 70% of all species in the study area. A total of 16 out of 19 selected animal species have been previously mentioned as umbrella species, compared with only 3 out of 13 plants species; this is despite plants accounting for a large proportion of the total species in Southwest China. We discuss the roles of indicator species and co-occurring species, and provide suggestions for species protection in Southwest China based on the current results. Our research provides valuable scientific information for research on umbrella conservation species over large geographical scales, and related fields of biodiversity conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuewei Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Cheng Gong
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
| | - Lu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
| | - Jian Hu
- Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610041, China.
| | - Zhiyun Ouyang
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
| | - Yi Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
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Monroy‐Gamboa AG, Briones‐Salas MÁ, Sarkar S, Sánchez‐Cordero V. Terrestrial vertebrates as surrogates for selecting conservation areas in a biodiversity hotspot in Mexico. CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Alina G. Monroy‐Gamboa
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de BiologíaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de México Mexico City Mexico
| | - Miguel Á. Briones‐Salas
- Laboratorio de Vertebrados Terrestres y Colección Regional de MamíferosCentro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional‐Oaxaca, Instituto Politécnico Nacional Oaxaca Mexico
| | - Sahotra Sarkar
- Department of Integrative Biology and PhilosophyUniversity of Texas at Austin Austin Texas
| | - Víctor Sánchez‐Cordero
- Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de BiologíaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de México Mexico City Mexico
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Terrestrial vertebrates as surrogates for selecting conservation areas in a biodiversity hotspot in Mexico. CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/csp2.12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
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Liu C, Newell G, White M, Bennett AF. Identifying wildlife corridors for the restoration of regional habitat connectivity: A multispecies approach and comparison of resistance surfaces. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0206071. [PMID: 30403713 PMCID: PMC6221308 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Accepted: 10/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Many large-scale connectivity initiatives have been proposed around the world with the aim of maintaining or restoring connectivity to offset the impacts on biodiversity of habitat loss and fragmentation. Frequently, these are based on the requirements of a single focal species of concern, but there is growing attention to identifying connectivity requirements for multi-species assemblages. A number of methods for modelling connectivity have been developed; likewise, different approaches have been used to construct resistance surfaces, the basic input data for connectivity analyses. In this study we modelled connectivity for a multi-species group of vertebrates representative of heavily fragmented forests in north-central Victoria, Australia. For each species, we used least-cost modelling and compared two alternate resistance surfaces, based on species distribution models and on expert opinion, respectively. We integrated the connectivity results across individual species to obtain a multi-species connectivity map for the region. A resistance surface based on expert assessment of the relative use of land-cover classes by the target species was more informative than one based on species distribution models. The former resulted in pathways more strongly aligned with existing patches and strips of native vegetation. In this region, pathways aligned with streams and their associated riparian vegetation have relatively high ecological potential and feasibility to contribute to regional connectivity for the assemblage of forest vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Canran Liu
- Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | - Graeme Newell
- Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
| | - Matt White
- Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
| | - Andrew F. Bennett
- Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Bundoora,Victoria, Australia
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