Seasonality in functional connectivity: A case study with the American marten in Forillon National Park
Abstract Protected areas are essential tools for reducing loss of global biodiversity. To fulfill their ecological functions, protected areas must be connected to their surroundings, a requirement that is difficult to meet in landscapes intensively disturbed by anthropogenic activities. Therefore, p...
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crwiley:10.1002/ecs2.4866 2024-09-15T17:38:38+00:00 Seasonality in functional connectivity: A case study with the American marten in Forillon National Park Viau, Julie‐Pier Sigouin, Daniel St‐Laurent, Martin‐Hugues Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Parks Canada 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4866 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.4866 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecosphere volume 15, issue 6 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 journal-article 2024 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4866 2024-07-02T04:09:40Z Abstract Protected areas are essential tools for reducing loss of global biodiversity. To fulfill their ecological functions, protected areas must be connected to their surroundings, a requirement that is difficult to meet in landscapes intensively disturbed by anthropogenic activities. Therefore, protecting movement corridors at the edges of protected areas is crucial, especially for species with broad habitat needs, such as the American marten ( Martes americana ). However, habitat selection and space use patterns are dynamic processes, so we could expect that functional connectivity would vary temporally in response to changing environmental conditions and levels of human activities. In this study, we aimed at predicting the location of movement corridors for the American marten in Forillon National Park and its periphery during two contrasted periods (snow‐free: May–November; snow‐covered: December–April). We used “seasonal” resource selection functions to identify core areas (interpreted as circuit “nodes”) and CircuitScape to delineate movement corridors between them based on the electrical circuit theory. Habitat selection patterns differed between periods, with martens avoiding open areas, high elevations and road proximity during the snow‐free period, while avoiding areas closer to secondary roads but selecting areas closer to primary roads and housing structures during the snow‐covered period. Consequently, the location of movement corridors differed partially between periods. Functional connectivity was favored by the presence of forest patches for both periods, while being constrained by open environments, especially during the snow‐free period. Our study highlights the importance of modeling functional connectivity at fine temporal scales in order to provide movement corridors that fulfill the requirements of a species at each period of its annual cycle. Article in Journal/Newspaper American marten Martes americana Wiley Online Library Ecosphere 15 6 |
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Abstract Protected areas are essential tools for reducing loss of global biodiversity. To fulfill their ecological functions, protected areas must be connected to their surroundings, a requirement that is difficult to meet in landscapes intensively disturbed by anthropogenic activities. Therefore, protecting movement corridors at the edges of protected areas is crucial, especially for species with broad habitat needs, such as the American marten ( Martes americana ). However, habitat selection and space use patterns are dynamic processes, so we could expect that functional connectivity would vary temporally in response to changing environmental conditions and levels of human activities. In this study, we aimed at predicting the location of movement corridors for the American marten in Forillon National Park and its periphery during two contrasted periods (snow‐free: May–November; snow‐covered: December–April). We used “seasonal” resource selection functions to identify core areas (interpreted as circuit “nodes”) and CircuitScape to delineate movement corridors between them based on the electrical circuit theory. Habitat selection patterns differed between periods, with martens avoiding open areas, high elevations and road proximity during the snow‐free period, while avoiding areas closer to secondary roads but selecting areas closer to primary roads and housing structures during the snow‐covered period. Consequently, the location of movement corridors differed partially between periods. Functional connectivity was favored by the presence of forest patches for both periods, while being constrained by open environments, especially during the snow‐free period. Our study highlights the importance of modeling functional connectivity at fine temporal scales in order to provide movement corridors that fulfill the requirements of a species at each period of its annual cycle. |
author2 |
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Parks Canada |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Viau, Julie‐Pier Sigouin, Daniel St‐Laurent, Martin‐Hugues |
spellingShingle |
Viau, Julie‐Pier Sigouin, Daniel St‐Laurent, Martin‐Hugues Seasonality in functional connectivity: A case study with the American marten in Forillon National Park |
author_facet |
Viau, Julie‐Pier Sigouin, Daniel St‐Laurent, Martin‐Hugues |
author_sort |
Viau, Julie‐Pier |
title |
Seasonality in functional connectivity: A case study with the American marten in Forillon National Park |
title_short |
Seasonality in functional connectivity: A case study with the American marten in Forillon National Park |
title_full |
Seasonality in functional connectivity: A case study with the American marten in Forillon National Park |
title_fullStr |
Seasonality in functional connectivity: A case study with the American marten in Forillon National Park |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonality in functional connectivity: A case study with the American marten in Forillon National Park |
title_sort |
seasonality in functional connectivity: a case study with the american marten in forillon national park |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4866 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.4866 |
genre |
American marten Martes americana |
genre_facet |
American marten Martes americana |
op_source |
Ecosphere volume 15, issue 6 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4866 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
6 |
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1810474522469466112 |