Final Report-Terrestrial Connectivity Across the South Central United States Implications for the Sustainability of Wildlife Populations and Communities
Dates
Publication Date
2016
Citation
Baum, K. A., 2016, Terrestrial Connectivity Across the South Central United States Implications for the Sustainability of Wildlife Populations and Communities.
Summary
With the extensive loss and fragmentation of most native habitats, connectivity has become increasingly important for sustaining wildlife populations and communities. Connectivity can be defined as the extent to which the landscape facilitates or impedes the movement of organisms among patches of habitat. The goal of this project was to evaluate terrestrial connectivity across the South Central United States. We addressed this goal using a variety of approaches, including evaluating connectivity of major habitats (grasslands and forests), predicting future changes in landscape connectivity for grassland species under future land-use change scenarios, assessing terrestrial vertebrate diversity in relation to habitat loss and fragmentation, [...]
Summary
With the extensive loss and fragmentation of most native habitats, connectivity has become increasingly important for sustaining wildlife populations and communities. Connectivity can be defined as the extent to which the landscape facilitates or impedes the movement of organisms among patches of habitat. The goal of this project was to evaluate terrestrial connectivity across the South Central United States. We addressed this goal using a variety of approaches, including evaluating connectivity of major habitats (grasslands and forests), predicting future changes in landscape connectivity for grassland species under future land-use change scenarios, assessing terrestrial vertebrate diversity in relation to habitat loss and fragmentation, and analyzing the combined effects of climate and habitat fragmentation on the distributions of grassland-obligate bird species. We found that connectivity has declined for species with low to moderate dispersal abilities, and that pattern is expected to continue under future scenarios of land-use change. For grassland birds, the contribution of climate, landscape variables, and their combined effects varied among species, but their combined effects can exceed the independent effects of the two drivers for some species. Thus, the importance of connectivity is expected to increase with the negative implications of climate change for wildlife populations and communities. These results can be used to inform management decisions and identify future research needs related to terrestrial connectivity within this region.
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Final Report-Terrestrial Connectivity Across the South Central United States Implications for the Sustainability of Wildlife Populations and Communities.pdf
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Communities
National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers