Fragmentation and habitat loss can restrict species movement and reduce connectivity, negatively impacting biodiversity. Characterising the overall connectivity of an area can inform better management of human modified landscapes. Contemporary connectivity modelling methods seldom incorporate fine-scale movement patterns associated with movement between fine-scaled structural connectivity elements such as scattered trees, roadside corridors and small patches of habitat. This study aims to characterise connectivity within the Karuah-Myall catchments, a typical woodland ecosystem that is fragmented by agriculture, using least-cost path analysis and a graph-theoretic approach; it focuses on how fine-scaled vegetation such as scattered trees support connectivity. We mapped scattered (and paddock) trees within this agricultural landscape where the main human modified land use was pasture. We modelled connectivity for a general representative woodland species using an interpatch dispersal distance and gap crossing threshold, and resistance from different land cover types. The gap crossing distance threshold was used to model movement between fine-scaled vegetation features. We compared the least-cost paths modelled with and without scattered trees. Our results show that by excluding scattered trees, least-cost paths across the cleared pasture landscape did not reflect the types of movement patterns typically observed from field studies, such as those associated with a foray-search strategy used by small and medium mammals and birds. The modelling also shows that the Karuah-Myall catchments are well connected and provide value to biodiversity beyond the catchment borders, by connecting coastal vegetation to the Great Eastern Ranges national wildlife corridor initiative. Connectivity models that exclude fine-scale landscape features such as scattered trees and small, linear patches risk misrepresenting connectivity patterns. Models of regional-scale connectivity can be influenced by the presence or absence of even the smallest features, such as scattered trees.

中文翻译：

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零散的农业景观中的生态连通性以及散落的树木和小斑块的重要性

破碎化和栖息地的丧失会限制物种的流动并降低连通性，从而对生物多样性产生负面影响。表征一个区域的整体连通性可以更好地管理人类修饰的景观。当代的连通性建模方法很少包含与精细结构的连通性元素（例如，散落的树木，路边走廊和小片栖息地）之间的运动相关的精细运动模式。这项研究旨在使用最小成本路径分析和图论方法来表征Karuah-Myall流域内的连通性，Karuah-Myall流域是一个农业分散的典型林地生态系统。它关注的是诸如分散树木之类的小规模植被如何支持连通性。我们在这个农业景观中绘制了分散的（和围场）树木，在这些农业景观中，人类主要利用的土地是牧场。我们使用斑块间的扩散距离和跨界阈值以及来自不同土地覆被类型的抵抗力，为具有一般代表性的林地物种建立了连通性模型。间隙穿越距离阈值用于模拟精细尺度植被特征之间的运动。我们比较了在有和没有分散树木的情况下建模成本最低的路径。我们的结果表明，通过排除零星的树木，穿越开垦的牧场景观的成本最低的路径无法反映出野外研究中通常观察到的运动方式类型，例如与中小型哺乳动物和鸟类使用的前途搜索策略相关的运动方式。 。该模型还显示，通过将沿海植被与大东部山脉国家野生动植物走廊计划联系起来，Karuah-Myall流域联系良好，并为流域边界以外的生物多样性提供了价值。排除小规模景观特征（例如，零星的树木和小的线性斑块）的连通性模型可能会误解连通性模式。区域规模连通性的模型可能会受到甚至最小特征（例如零星树木）的存在或不存在的影响。