Landscape Connectivity as a Function of Scale and Organism Vagility in a Real Forested Landscape
Landscape connectivity is considered a vital element of landscape structure because of its importance to population survival. The difficulty surrounding the notion of landscape connectivity is that it must be assessed at the scale of the interaction between an organism and the landscape. We present...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9b0acbe30c2d4341803c6c8300923f75 2023-05-15T17:43:05+02:00 Landscape Connectivity as a Function of Scale and Organism Vagility in a Real Forested Landscape Robert G. D'Eon Susan M. Glenn Ian Parfitt Marie-Josée Fortin 2002-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-00436-060210 https://doaj.org/article/9b0acbe30c2d4341803c6c8300923f75 EN eng Resilience Alliance http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol6/iss2/art10/ https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-00436-060210 https://doaj.org/article/9b0acbe30c2d4341803c6c8300923f75 Ecology and Society, Vol 6, Iss 2, p 10 (2002) British Columbia dispersal forest fragmentation landscape connectivity marten northern flying squirrel northern goshawk scale vagility Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2002 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-00436-060210 2022-12-31T13:13:04Z Landscape connectivity is considered a vital element of landscape structure because of its importance to population survival. The difficulty surrounding the notion of landscape connectivity is that it must be assessed at the scale of the interaction between an organism and the landscape. We present a unique method for measuring connectivity between patches as a function of organism vagility. We used this approach to assess connectivity between harvest, old-growth, and recent wildfire patches in a real forested landscape in southeast British Columbia. By varying a distance criterion, habitat patches were considered connected and formed habitat clusters if they fell within this critical distance. The amount of area and distance to edge within clusters at each critical distance formed the basis of connectivity between patches. We then assessed landscape connectivity relative to old-growth associates within our study area based on species' dispersal abilities. Connectivity was greatest between harvest patches, followed by old-growth, and then wildfire patches. In old-growth patches, we found significant trends between increased connectivity and increased total habitat amount, and between decreased connectivity and increased old-growth harvesting. Highly vagile old-growth associates, such as carnivorous birds, perceive this landscape as connected and are able to access all patches. Smaller, less vagile species, such as woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches, may be affected by a lack of landscape connectivity at the scale of their interaction with old-growth patches. Of particular concern is the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus), which we predict is limited in this landscape due to relatively weak dispersal abilities. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Goshawk Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Conservation Ecology 6 2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
British Columbia dispersal forest fragmentation landscape connectivity marten northern flying squirrel northern goshawk scale vagility Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
British Columbia dispersal forest fragmentation landscape connectivity marten northern flying squirrel northern goshawk scale vagility Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 Robert G. D'Eon Susan M. Glenn Ian Parfitt Marie-Josée Fortin Landscape Connectivity as a Function of Scale and Organism Vagility in a Real Forested Landscape |
topic_facet |
British Columbia dispersal forest fragmentation landscape connectivity marten northern flying squirrel northern goshawk scale vagility Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Landscape connectivity is considered a vital element of landscape structure because of its importance to population survival. The difficulty surrounding the notion of landscape connectivity is that it must be assessed at the scale of the interaction between an organism and the landscape. We present a unique method for measuring connectivity between patches as a function of organism vagility. We used this approach to assess connectivity between harvest, old-growth, and recent wildfire patches in a real forested landscape in southeast British Columbia. By varying a distance criterion, habitat patches were considered connected and formed habitat clusters if they fell within this critical distance. The amount of area and distance to edge within clusters at each critical distance formed the basis of connectivity between patches. We then assessed landscape connectivity relative to old-growth associates within our study area based on species' dispersal abilities. Connectivity was greatest between harvest patches, followed by old-growth, and then wildfire patches. In old-growth patches, we found significant trends between increased connectivity and increased total habitat amount, and between decreased connectivity and increased old-growth harvesting. Highly vagile old-growth associates, such as carnivorous birds, perceive this landscape as connected and are able to access all patches. Smaller, less vagile species, such as woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches, may be affected by a lack of landscape connectivity at the scale of their interaction with old-growth patches. Of particular concern is the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus), which we predict is limited in this landscape due to relatively weak dispersal abilities. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Robert G. D'Eon Susan M. Glenn Ian Parfitt Marie-Josée Fortin |
author_facet |
Robert G. D'Eon Susan M. Glenn Ian Parfitt Marie-Josée Fortin |
author_sort |
Robert G. D'Eon |
title |
Landscape Connectivity as a Function of Scale and Organism Vagility in a Real Forested Landscape |
title_short |
Landscape Connectivity as a Function of Scale and Organism Vagility in a Real Forested Landscape |
title_full |
Landscape Connectivity as a Function of Scale and Organism Vagility in a Real Forested Landscape |
title_fullStr |
Landscape Connectivity as a Function of Scale and Organism Vagility in a Real Forested Landscape |
title_full_unstemmed |
Landscape Connectivity as a Function of Scale and Organism Vagility in a Real Forested Landscape |
title_sort |
landscape connectivity as a function of scale and organism vagility in a real forested landscape |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-00436-060210 https://doaj.org/article/9b0acbe30c2d4341803c6c8300923f75 |
genre |
Northern Goshawk |
genre_facet |
Northern Goshawk |
op_source |
Ecology and Society, Vol 6, Iss 2, p 10 (2002) |
op_relation |
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol6/iss2/art10/ https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-00436-060210 https://doaj.org/article/9b0acbe30c2d4341803c6c8300923f75 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-00436-060210 |
container_title |
Conservation Ecology |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
2 |
_version_ |
1766145101475610624 |