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Animals move across landscapes to find food and other resources, migrate between seasonal habitats, find mates, and shift to new habitats in response to environmental changes. The ability to successfully move between habitats is essential for the long-term survival of many wildlife species, from large, migratory species such as elk (Cervus elaphus)...
Citations
... For example, among carnivores, introduced cheetah, leopard, and sand cat species as umbrella species in central Iran. Sometimes, selected species are highly sensitive to anthropogenic changes because landscape planners need this kind of information (Group, 2010). Usually, a separate resistance map is prepared for each species, and habitat connectivity modeling for these species is conducted separately. ...
... For example, for species such as the American black bear and the Canadian lynx, the cut-off distance was set at 75 km. In previous studies, 10 km was set for mountain goats and 25 km for other species (Group, 2010). In the present study, the width of the cut-off was set at 25 km. ...
Human modifications of the landscapes have led to species with wide home ranges being trapped within protected areas, disrupting their relationship with species in other protected areas. In this regard, identifying potential corridors that species use to migrate and access other resources can help preserve the species’ survival. Iran, with 246 protected areas, is home to a variety of vertebrates, including large mammals. This study aims to identify the least-cost corridors between core habitat areas of two large mammals of brown bear (Ursus arctos) and Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in Iran, as well as the barriers along these corridors. We also identify areas known as pinch-points or bottlenecks to determine mammalian conservation priorities. For this purpose, after creating a resistance map using species distribution models (SDMs), the Linkage Mapper toolkit was used to model the landscape connectivity. For brown bears, our results showed that the average length of the least-cost corridors in 84 core habitat areas was 74 km. Brown bears have to cross 179 barriers on average to migrate to another region, mostly due to linear infrastructure such as roads. For the Persian leopard, we identified 5 core areas with an average corridor length of 397 km and 36 barriers between them. This study suggests that in addition to determining the least-cost corridors between core habitats, it is necessary to identify the barriers and pinch-points along these corridors. The results of this study offer new insights for protected area managers to better manage these areas.
