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Results of the analysis applied at a distance of 8 km. The table showed the landscape graph metrics before and after vegetation restoration (X bp and X ap , respectively) and the variation rate in these metrics compared to before vegetation restoration
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Habitat restoration is an effective method for improving landscape connectivity, which can reduce habitat fragmentation. Maintaining landscape connectivity could promote connections between habitat, which is extremely essential to preserve gene flow and population viability. This study proposes a methodological framework to analyse landscape connec...
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Context 1
... the MaxEnt model, 21 variables were used as environmental variables to construct the suitable habitat for Asian elephants (Table 1). Habitat suitability assessment model for Asian elephant fitted the data well, with the average AUC = 0.838 (standard deviation = 0.029) and average TSS max = 0.737 (standard deviation = 0.034) (Table S2, Supporting Information). Some environmental variables had a great contribution to the assessment of habitat suitability of Asian elephants. ...Context 2
... 4). Table 2 shows a more detailed analysis of the changes in connectivity and other indexes at a dispersal distance of 8 km (the component divided by this distance was consistent with the distribution of the current Asian elephant, see Fig. 5 Figure 4 Connectivity metrics (a) and its variation rate (b) according to the distance parameters before and after vegetation restoration. Connectivity is assessed by the PC index at dispersal distance between 2 and 20 km. ...Context 3
... quality of the structure of the graph after vegetation restoration was improved, in which vegetation restoration of farmland/plantation provided a large increase in connectivity (+81.02%). The creation of new habitat patches would lead to an increase of mean size of the graph components and decrease of mean length of links in cumulative cost distance ( Table 2), meaning that Asian elephants could travel greater distances and improve their movement capacity. However, it was not practical and feasible to restore all farmland/plantation as new habitat patches, because in most economically underdeveloped forest regions, farmland and cash crops are the main sources of income for residents ( Liu et al. 2017). ...Similar publications
Conservation and recovery of degraded areas generate great demand for seeds of native tree species. The development and/or improvement of efficient techniques for the evaluation of forest-seed quality is important for the production and establishment of high-quality seedlings for restoration. In this study, the tissue density of radiographic images...
Citations
... Overall, we find that the timing and rate of migration is a critical predictor of the genetic make-up of recovered populations and that some combinations of these parameters can send newly connected populations on entirely new evolutionary trajectories. Through this work, we add to the body of evidence that identifies habitat suitability, management actions, and population connectivity as the most limiting factors for a species' long-term viability [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60] and provide a model that can evaluate the risks and benefits of common management strategies. ...
As we continue to convert green spaces into roadways and buildings, connectivity between populations and biodiversity will continue to decline. In threatened and endangered species, this trend is particularly concerning because the cessation of immigration can cause increased inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity, leading to lower adaptability and higher extirpation probabilities in these populations. Unfortunately, monitoring changes in genetic diversity from management actions such as assisted migration and predicting the extent of introduced genetic variation that is needed to prevent extirpation is difficult and costly in situ. Therefore, we designed an agent-based model to link population-wide genetic variability and the influx of unique alleles via immigration to population stability and extirpation outcomes. These models showed that management of connectivity can be critical in restoring at-risk populations and reducing the effects of inbreeding depression. However, the rescued populations were more similar to the migrant source population (average FST range 0.05–0.10) compared to the historical recipient population (average FST range 0.23–0.37). This means that these management actions not only recovered the populations from the effects of inbreeding depression, but they did so in a way that changed the evolutionary trajectory that was predicted and expected for these populations prior to the population crash. This change was most extreme in populations with the smallest population sizes, which are representative of critically endangered species that could reasonably be considered candidates for restored connectivity or translocation strategies. Understanding how these at-risk populations change in response to varying management interventions has broad implications for the long-term adaptability of these populations and can improve future efforts for protecting locally adapted allele complexes when connectivity is restored.
... This is attributed to the fact that while China's ecological environment has improved through ecological restoration projects, habitat quality remains relatively low, leading to reduced carrying capacity. To address this, scholars recommend the implementation of wildlife habitat transformation processes to protect endangered species and reduce the risk of wildlife spillover [38][39][40]. ...
This paper focuses on the issue of balancing interests between stakeholders and ecosystems in the process of wildlife habitat conservation. By employing evolutionary game theory, an analysis framework for the socio-ecological system of wildlife habitats is constructed, comprising four main entities: central government, farmers, local government, and ecosystems. This framework explores the influencing factors of habitat protection strategies adopted by various stakeholders and the conditions required for the socio-ecological system to evolve towards an ideal state. In this paper, we analyze how the central government can design cost–benefit-based policy mechanisms, control the evolution of the socio-ecological system by altering conditions, and achieve a balance of interests among all parties involved in the habitat protection process. In this study, we find that the central government should establish disturbance monitoring indicators for human activities and ecological restoration, based on different compensation standards. Moreover, the hierarchical management of wildlife habitat according to different management levels can enhance the probability of the socio-ecological system evolving towards an ideal state, while achieving the sum of social costs. Additionally, shifting the compensation strategies for farmers and local governments from cost compensation to benefit compensation will reduce the harmful costs that the ecosystem imposes on the social system, thereby facilitating the realization of an ideal wildlife habitat protection and management model. Therefore, the central government should intensify compensation efforts and design reasonable compensation standards, transitioning the compensation function from cost recovery to income generation. Simultaneously, guidance should be provided to farmers for the rational utilization of forest resources to increase their income. The alignment of agricultural activities with habitat protection goals should be encouraged, and local governments should establish mechanisms for realizing the value of ecological products, making relatively implicit long-term social welfare explicit.
As we continue to convert green spaces into roadways and buildings, connectivity between populations and biodiversity will continue to decline. In threatened and endangered species, this trend is particularly concerning because the cessation of immigration can cause increased inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity, leading to lower adaptability and higher extirpation probabilities in these populations. Unfortunately, monitoring changes in genetic diversity from management actions such as assisted migration and predicting the extent of introduced genetic variation that is needed to prevent extirpation is difficult and costly in situ. Therefore, we designed an agent-based model to link population-wide genetic variability and the influx of unique alleles via immigration to population stability and extirpation outcomes. These models showed that management of connectivity can be critical in restoring at-risk populations and reducing the effects of inbreeding depression; increased connectivity prevented extirpation for the majority of scenarios we considered (71.5% of critically endangered populations and 100% of endangered and vulnerable populations). However, the rescued populations were more similar to the migrant source population (average F ST range 0.05 – 0.10) compared to the historical recipient population (average F ST range 0.23 – 0.37). This means that these management actions not only recovered the populations from the effects of inbreeding depression, but they did so in a way that changed the evolutionary trajectory that was predicted and expected for these populations prior to the population crash. This change was most extreme in populations with the smallest population sizes, which are representative of critically endangered species that could reasonably be considered candidates for restored connectivity or translocation strategies. Understanding how these at-risk populations change in response to varying management interventions has broad implications for the long-term adaptability of these populations and can improve future efforts for protecting locally adapted allele complexes when connectivity is restored.
With strict enforcement of the legal protection for Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ) in China, the elephant population has steadily increased from 146 elephants in 1976 to over 300 elephants in 2023. More elephants occur in highly fragmented and human‐dominated landscapes, resulting in serious human–elephant conflicts (HEC). We investigated the temporal and spatial aspects of HEC in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, China, from 2011‒2015 and 2016‒2020. We analyzed the characteristics of crop raiding, property damage, and human injury and death by elephants. Then, we employed a multi‐model ensemble forecasting framework to perform a risk assessment, and compared the changes in HEC hotspots to explore the factors influencing conflict. Our data revealed that 91,311 HEC compensations were recorded from 2011‒2020 with a total compensation amount of 127.01 million yuan (17.40 million USD), 89.75% of which was crop compensation. Areas of risk in 2011‒2015 and 2016‒2020 were 2,505 km ² and 3,157 km ² , respectively, with an increase in area of 26.01%. The HEC risk areas were mainly distributed in nature reserves and surrounding areas, and >65% of the risk areas were located in land‐use types dominated by artificial planting. Distance to farmland, distance to sparse wood, and slope had the greatest relative importance in the risk model evaluation. The mitigation measures that we recommend include strengthening the monitoring system for Asian elephants in areas with current and potential HEC risks; improving compensation mechanisms, such as determining accurate annual premiums, establishing a shared loss compensation mechanism, and ensuring a fair, transparent, and timely compensation process; and proposing habitat conservation measures, such as restoring suitable habitats for Asian elephants, establishing ecological corridors between nature reserves, and creating a nature reserve system based on the Asian Elephant National Park to enhance the habitat of Asian elephants.
