Search results for "Landscape connectivity"

Management diversity begets biodiversity in production forest landscapes

2022

How to manage forest for biodiversity conservation is an ongoing debate. We argue that maximizing biodiversity in managed forest landscapes requires a diversity of forest management regimes in space and time. This will generate high levels of habitat heterogeneity at a landscape scale, which in turn will support various groups of forest species. Based on concepts from landscape ecology, we formulate five hypotheses on how management diversity, i.e. combining various management approaches can benefit overall biodiversity across a production forest landscape. First, management diversity will increase habitat diversity and, therefore, beta diversity (the habitat diversity hypothesis). Second, …

Environmental mitigation hierarchy and biodiversity offsets revisited through habitat connectivity modelling.

2020

International audience; Biodiversity loss is accelerating because of unceasing human activity and land clearing for development projects (urbanisation, transport infrastructure, mining and quarrying …). Environmental policy-makers and managers in different countries worldwide have proposed the mitigation hierarchy to ensure the goal of “no net loss (NNL) of biodiversity” and have included this principle in environmental impact assessment processes. However, spatial configuration is hardly ever taken into account in the mitigation hierarchy even though it would greatly benefit from recent developments in habitat connectivity modelling incorporating landscape graphs. Meanwhile, national, Euro…

Assessing the capacity of different urban forms to preserve the connectivity of ecological habitats

2011

International audience; This paper addresses the relationship between anthropogenic forest habitat fragmentation and the form of urban patterns. Using a two-step methodology we first generate 40 theoretical residential development scenarios following a repeatable procedure; the simulated urban forms are either moderately compact or fractal. Then, we compare the scenarios according to the functional connectivity of the remaining forest habitat using a graph-based approach. The methodology is applied to the urban region of Besançon (France), where forest surfaces are considered as a generic habitat for several animal species. Results obtained show that fractal scenarios of residential develop…

2020

Abstract Facing the loss of biodiversity caused by landscape fragmentation, implementation of ecological networks to connect habitats is an important biodiversity conservation issue. It is necessary to develop easily reproducible methods to identify and prioritize actions to maintain or restore ecological corridors. To date, several competing methods are used with recurrent debate on which is best and if expert-based approaches can replace data-driven models. We compared three methods: knowledge-driven (expert based), data-driven (based on species distribution model), and a mixed approach. We quantified their differences in habitat and corridor mapping, and prioritizations of landscape elem…

Morphological characterization of calanchi (badland) hillslope connectivity

2017

Calanchi, a type of Italian badlands created by a combination of water erosion processes and local geomorphological and tectonic controls, is a striking example of long-term landscape evolution. In small temporal/spatial scales, the calanchi exhibit many of the geomorphic processes and landforms that may be observed in fluvial landscapes, hence they may be considered as micro-basins where geomorphic dynamics and landscape features can be related. The goal of this research is testing the use of simple morphometric variables for assessing sediment connectivity of calanchi landforms. In order to detect the morphological characteristics controlling the landscape connectivity of calanchi basins,…

Spatial and environmental effects on a rock-pool metacommunity depend on landscape setting and dispersal mode

2017

Empirical studies on structuring mechanisms of metacommunities usually focus on the major roles of environmental filtering and dispersal. Recent works suggest that the relative importance of these structuring mechanisms differs among organisms with different body size, taxonomic affiliation, and dispersal abilities, and also depends on spatial extent and environmental heterogeneity. However, the effects of physical connectivity among sites and dispersal mode are less commonly considered explicitly in field metacommunity studies. We analysed a rock‐pool animal metacommunity, comparing both environmental and spatial effects between a set of pools in a ravine setting, with ephemeral connecting…

Influence of the regional landscape connectivity on the location of roe deer roadkill hotspots

2016

International audience; Linear infrastructures threaten ecosystems and have both direct and indirect effects on ecological habitats and individuals. The fragmentation effect (i.e. splitting or loss of habitat patches) and the barrier effect (i.e. fences, traffic noise avoidance, and roadkill) are widely reported. Wildlife-vehicle collisions are the most visible direct effect and can result in severe human injuries. In Europe, the roe deer population is growing and roe deer roadkills are becoming more common. Roe deer movements depend on landscape features and regional-scale connectivity. Here, we investigate the influence of the landscape network on the location of roe deer roadkill hotspot…

Graphab: A software dedicated to the modelling of landscape networks

2016

International audience; Land cover changes resulting from urban sprawl, transport network intensification and agricultural changes contribute to fragment wildlife habitats and may lead to question viability of animal and plant populations. Landscape ecologists have shown that populations living in fragmented habitats are forced to adopt specific dynamics (patchy populations or metapopulations) making them highly dependent on fluxes between their habitat patches. Landscape connectivity may be defined as the functional response of a given species in terms of movement and individual fluxes to the potential links between habitat patches provided by the landscape structure.Many methods are used …