Addressing connectivity for multiple species in multiple landscapes allows better predictions of species sensitivity to fragmentation: Example from birds of the Atlantic forest

PE´ER, G.; HANSBAUER, M.M.; ZURITA, G.A.; HENLE, K.; BANKS-LEITE, C.; MARTENSEN, A.; METZGER, J.P.; FRANK, K.

Marburg, Alemania

Conferencia; Joint Conference of the gtö (Society for Tropical Ecology) and the ATBC (Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation); 2009

GTO-ATBC

Functional connectivity is the outcome of intricate interactions between the structure of the landscape and response of the animals to this structure. Due to the complexity of such animal-landscape interactions, tools are lacking to predict functional connectivity for multiple species and/or across landscapes. We present a spatially explicit, individual-based model (IBM) of connectivity which takes into account that species differ from each other not only in habitat requirements but also in behaviour. One of the model's novel attributes is in separating everyday movements from rare dispersal events, and random movements from directed ones (e.g. gap-crossing between forest fragments). We use the model to investigate connectivity for birds of the Atlantic forest in Brazil. Exploring the varied response of species to forest edges, we show that the separation into different behaviours, as well as the change in the response parameters, substantially affects connectivity. We further demonstrate the capacity of the model to link connectivity with the sensitivity of species to fragmentation. We discuss the implications for conservation along two lines: advancing connectivity theory (e.g. comparing and unifying connectivity indices), and assessing connectivity as a decision-support tool in restoration and protection projects.