Individual-based modeling highlights the importance of mortality and landscape structure in measures of functional conne
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Individual-based modeling highlights the importance of mortality and landscape structure in measures of functional connectivity Casey C. Day
. Patrick A. Zollner . Jonathan H. Gilbert . Nicholas P. McCann
Received: 8 December 2019 / Accepted: 14 August 2020 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Context Functional landscape connectivity is vital for the conservation of wildlife species. Landscape connectivity models often overlook factors such as mortality and asymmetry in landscape resistance that can have a significant impact on functional connectivity. Individual-based models (IBMs) can be used to explore such factors through the implementation of mechanistic dispersal behavior. Furthermore, population-level patterns of animal dispersal and landscape connectivity resulting from the simulation of alternative landscapes or scenarios of animal behavior can be compared. Objectives Use an IBM to evaluate the effects of disperser mortality, asymmetrical dispersal due to landscape structure, and land-use change on the functional landscape connectivity between two populations of reintroduced American martens Martes americana. Methods We applied a previously calibrated IBM of marten dispersal to simulate movement between two reintroduced populations in Wisconsin and Michigan,
USA. We used machine learning analyses to determine how each factor affected dispersal between populations (connectivity) across five consecutive generations. Results Functional landscape connectivity between populations was not always correlated with more traditional dispersal metrics, such as dispersal distance. Mortality had the greatest impact on functional connectivity. Land-use change and landscape configuration affected connectivity mostly when mortality was not incorporated into simulations. These experimental factors had a stronger effect on long-distance dispersal between populations than on more local dispersal. Conclusions Conservation planning for landscape connectivity may benefit from accounting for mortality risks within matrix habitat. The development of individual-based models that incorporate landscape heterogeneity and complex animal behaviors when investigating long-distance dispersal can provide unique and specific insights into both landscape connectivity and wildlife conservation.
C. C. Day (&) P. A. Zollner N. P. McCann Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47909, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Keywords American marten Asymmetrical dispersal Behavioral complexity Disperser mortality Functional landscape connectivity Individual-based modeling Land-use change Martes americana
J. H. Gilbert Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, 72682 Maple Street, PO Box 9, Odanah, WI 54861, USA
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Landscape Ecol
Introduction Threatened or endangered animal populations often occur as small isolates. Conservation theory predicts that as habitat quality decreases and isolation
