NDLI: Animal behavior, cost-based corridor models, and real corridors

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	LaPoint, Scott Gallery, Paul Wikelski, Martin Kays, Roland
Copyright Year	2013
Abstract	Corridors are popular conservation tools because they are thought to allow animals to safely move between habitat fragments, thereby maintaining landscape connectivity. Nonetheless, few studies show that mammals actually use corridors as predicted. Further, the assumptions underlying corridor models are rarely validated with field data. We categorized corridor use as a behavior, to identify animal-defined corridors, using movement data from fishers (Martes pennanti) tracked near Albany, New York, USA. We then used least-cost path analysis and circuit theory to predict fisher corridors and validated the performance of all three corridor models with data from camera traps. Six of eight fishers tracked used corridors to connect the forest patches that constitute their home ranges, however the locations of these corridors were not well predicted by the two cost-based models, which together identified only 5 of the 23 used corridors. Further, camera trap data suggest the cost-based corridor models performed poorly, often detecting fewer fishers and mammals than nearby habitat cores, whereas camera traps within animal-defined corridors recorded more passes made by fishers, carnivores, and all other non-target mammal groups. Our results suggest that (1) fishers use corridors to connect disjunct habitat fragments, (2) animal movement data can be used to identify corridors at local scales, (3) camera traps are useful tools for testing corridor model predictions, and (4) that corridor models can be improved by incorporating animal behavior data. Given the conservation importance and monetary costs of corridors, improving and validating corridor model predictions is vital.
Starting Page	1615
Ending Page	1630
Page Count	16
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09212973
Journal	Landscape Ecology
Volume Number	28
Issue Number	8
e-ISSN	15729761
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2013-06-26
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Animal movement Carnivore Circuit theory Connectivity Conservation Fisher Least-cost path Martes pennanti Landscape Ecology Plant Ecology Forestry Management Forestry Ecology Plant Sciences
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Geography, Planning and Development Ecology Nature and Landscape Conservation

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