Using individual-based movement models to assess inter-patch connectivity for large carnivores in fragmented landscapes
Authored by Thorsten Wiegand, Rajapandian Kanagaraj, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt, Surendra P Goyal
Date Published: 2013
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2013.08.030
Sponsors:
European Union
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Save the Tiger Fund
Platforms:
Delphi
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Most rare and endangered large carnivores such as tiger (Panthera
tigris) exist in human-dominated landscapes as small, fragmented and
isolated populations across their range. Connectivity between the
remaining populations in the habitat fragments is essential for their
long-term persistence and focus of management initiatives. We describe
an individual-based, spatially explicit model of tiger movement behavior
based on previously developed habitat models to (i) quantify inter-patch
connectivity among major (protected) habitat patches in the Terai Arc
Landscape of India and Nepal and (ii) investigate the effect of
potential management initiatives, e.g. restoring corridors, on enhancing
connectivity among fragmented protected habitats. Connectivity was not
solely a function of distance between patches, but an outcome of the
interplay between movement behavior and landscape composition, with
asymmetric connectivity explained by canalizing or diffusing effects of
the landscape, and depending on the landscape context of the starting
patch. Patch connectivity was mostly determined by autocorrelation in
tiger movement, the daily movement capacity, landscape structure, and
the amount of matrix habitat. Several habitat patches were likely to be
island-like and already effectively isolated. However, simulating
scenarios of corridor restoration showed that most habitat patches in
India and between India and Nepal could recover connectivity, which may
mitigate negative genetic consequences of small population size and
effective isolation on tiger populations in this landscape. Combining
habitat models with individual-based models is a powerful and robust
approach that could be widely applied to delineate dispersal corridors
of large carnivores and quantify patch connectivity even if data are
scarce. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tags
Conservation
Heterogeneous landscapes
Matrix heterogeneity
Explicit population-models
Graph-theory
Spatial ecology
Animal dispersal
Habitat
connectivity
Eurasian lynx
Tiger