Multi-scale network analysis shows scale-dependency of significance of individual protected areas for connectivity

Maciejewski, Kristine, and Cumming, Graeme S. (2016) Multi-scale network analysis shows scale-dependency of significance of individual protected areas for connectivity. Landscape Ecology, 31 (4). pp. 761-774.

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DOI: 10.1007/s10980-015-0285-2

View at Publisher Website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-028...

Abstract

Context: The problem of how ecological mechanisms create and interact with patterns across different scales is fundamental not only for understanding ecological processes, but also for interpretations of ecological dynamics and the strategies that organisms adopt to cope with variability and cross-scale influences.

Objectives: Our objective was to determine the consistency of the role of individual habitat patches in pattern-process relationships (focusing on the potential for dispersal within a network of patches in a fragmented landscape) across a range of scales.

Methods: Network analysis was used to assess and compare the potential connectivity and spatial distribution of highland fynbos habitat in and between protected areas of the Western Cape of South Africa. Connectivity of fynbos patches was measured using ten maximum threshold distances, ranging from five to 50 km, based on the known average dispersal distances of fynbos endemic bird species.

Results: Network connectivity increased predictably with scale. More interestingly, however, the relative contributions of individual protected areas to network connectivity showed strong scale dependence.

Conclusions: Conservation approaches that rely on single-scale analyses of connectivity and context (e.g., based on data for a single species with a given dispersal distance) are inadequate to identify key land parcels. Landscape planning, and specifically the assessment of the value of individual areas for dispersal, must therefore be undertaken with a multi-scale approach. Developing a better understanding of scaling dependencies in fragmenting landscapes is of high importance for both ecological theory and conservation planning.


Item ID:	40818
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1572-9761
Keywords:	habitat connectivity, stepping stone, fynbos, endemic, fragmentation, pattern and scale
Funders:	DST/ NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, National Research Foundation of South Africa, James S. McDonnell Foundation
Date Deposited:	13 Oct 2015 03:33
FoR Codes:	41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4102 Ecological applications > 410206 Landscape ecology @ 33% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410401 Conservation and biodiversity @ 33% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310399 Ecology not elsewhere classified @ 34%
SEO Codes:	96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960501 Ecosystem Assessment and Management at Regional or Larger Scales @ 33% 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9613 Remnant Vegetation and Protected Conservation Areas > 961308 Remnant Vegetation and Protected Conservation Areas at Regional or Larger Scales @ 33% 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences @ 34%
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