In the conterminous United States, wolverines (Gulo gulo) occupy semi-isolated patches of high elevation subalpine habitats at naturally low densities. The long-term success of the wolverine metapopulation requires open space in valley bottoms that link the mountain ranges of the western US to facilitate dispersal. No previous analysis has used empirical data to determine the degree to which dispersing wolverines are sensitive, or not, to differences in habitat quality outside of areas suitable for a home range. This sensitivity is important because it influences conservation actions. Improving wolverine habitat connectivity models among mountain ranges will benefit future wolverine conservation aimed at maintaining gene flow among populations. To determine how to most accurately model wolverine habitat connectivity, we used a resource selection function to model habitat and then generated six circuit theory connectivity maps. Each connectivity map represented a degree of sensitivity to movement within low-quality habitats. We used three validation metrics to compare these different connectivity surfaces and determine which layer best approximated observed wolverine dispersal using relocation data. We found that a strong negative logistic exponential relationship between habitat quality and resistance best described observed wolverine dispersal (c = 8). This suggests that once outside of habitat suitable for a home range, wolverines are only moderately sensitive to changes in habitat quality. However, we found that there is still some lower threshold of dispersal habitat quality for wolverines, as dispersing wolverines follow lower-resistance pathways that connect high-quality habitat and do not move indiscriminately across the landscape. Our results highlight the need to disentangle dispersal data from home range data through validation using dispersal data. Our findings also indicate that the validation of connectivity metrics is an essential component of conservation planning to best support the persistence of species.

在后来的美国，金刚狼（Gulo gulo）以自然低密度占据高海拔亚高山生境的半隔离斑块。金刚狼种群的长期成功需要在山谷底部有一个开放的空间，该空间连接美国西部的山脉以利于分散。先前的分析都没有使用经验数据来确定分散的金刚狼对适合家庭居住范围之外的栖息地质量差异的敏感程度。这种敏感性很重要，因为它会影响保护措施。改善山脉之间的金刚狼栖息地连通性模型将有益于未来的金刚狼保护，旨在维持种群之间的基因流动。为了确定如何最准确地模拟金刚狼栖息地的连通性，我们使用资源选择函数对栖息地进行建模，然后生成了六个电路理论连通性图。每个连接图都表示对劣质生境中移动的敏感程度。我们使用了三个验证指标来比较这些不同的连通性表面，并使用重定位数据确定最接近观察到的金刚狼扩散的层。我们发现，栖息地质量和抗性之间的强烈负逻辑对数关系最能描述观察到的金刚狼扩散（c = 8）。这表明，一旦金刚狼在适合家庭居住的栖息地之外，对栖息地质量的变化仅具有中等敏感性。但是，我们发现金刚狼的散布栖息地质量门槛仍然较低，因为驱散的金刚狼遵循低电阻路径，这些路径连接了高质量的栖息地，并且不会在整个景观中随意移动。我们的结果强调需要通过使用散布数据进行验证来将散布数据与家庭范围数据区分开。我们的研究结果还表明，连通性指标的验证是保护规划的必要组成部分，以最好地支持物种的持久性。