Context Many large carnivores depend on habitat patches outside protected areas, as well as safe corridors between them. However, corridor assessments typically ignore potential conflicts between carnivores and people, which can undermine corridor effectiveness and thus conservation success. Objectives We identified safe dispersal corridors and conflict-prone movement bottlenecks for Persian leopard ( Panthera pardus saxicolor ) between protected areas in the Alborz Mountains, Iran, by mapping habitat, landscape permeability, and conflict risk. We then identified priority areas for conservation interventions according to the intensities of different threats. Methods We mapped land cover using Landsat satellite images, gathered data on leopard and prey distributions and livestock depredation events via interview surveys in 69 cells of 6 × 6 km each. We then used occupancy modeling to identify habitat patches, used circuit theory modeling to analyze landscape permeability, and assessed human-leopard conflict risk using generalized linear models. Results Leopard habitat use increased with prey availability and decreased with elevation. Prey distribution, in turn, was mostly negatively influenced by agricultural lands and distance from protected areas. Conflict risk (i.e., probability of leopard depredation on livestock) was high in landscapes where agriculture was widespread and historical forest loss high. Not accounting for conflicts overestimated connectivity among habitat patches substantially. Conclusions Human-carnivore conflicts are an important constraint to connectivity and should be considered in corridor assessments. Our study shows how habitat analysis, connectivity assessment, and conflict risk mapping can be combined to guide conservation planning for identifying habitat networks and safe corridors for carnivores in human-dominated landscapes.

中文翻译：

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绘制连通性和冲突风险图，以确定波斯豹的安全走廊

背景 许多大型食肉动物依赖保护区外的栖息地斑块以及它们之间的安全走廊。然而，走廊评估通常会忽略食肉动物和人类之间的潜在冲突，这会破坏走廊的有效性，从而破坏保护的成功。目标我们通过绘制栖息地、景观渗透性和冲突风险图，确定了伊朗阿尔伯兹山脉保护区之间波斯豹 (Panthera pardus saxicolor) 的安全扩散走廊和易发生冲突的运动瓶颈。然后，我们根据不同威胁的强度确定了保护干预的优先领域。方法我们使用 Landsat 卫星图像绘制土地覆盖图，通过访谈调查在每个 6 × 6 公里的 69 个单元格中收集有关豹子和猎物分布以及牲畜掠夺事件的数据。然后我们使用占用模型来识别栖息地斑块，使用电路理论模型来分析景观渗透性，并使用广义线性模型评估人豹冲突风险。结果豹栖息地的使用随着猎物的可用性而增加，而随着海拔的升高而减少。反过来，猎物分布主要受到农田和与保护区距离的负面影响。冲突风险（即豹子掠夺牲畜的可能性）在农业普遍存在且历史上森林损失率高的景观中很高。不考虑冲突，大大高估了栖息地斑块之间的连通性。结论 人类与食肉动物的冲突是连通性的重要制约因素，应在走廊评估中予以考虑。我们的研究展示了栖息地分析、连通性评估、