Context

Reduced connectivity across grassland ecosystems can impair their functional heterogeneity and negatively impact large herbivore populations. Maintaining landscape connectivity across human-dominated rangelands is therefore a key conservation priority.

Objective

Integrate data on large herbivore occurrence and species richness with analyses of functional landscape connectivity to identify important areas for maintaining or restoring connectivity for large herbivores.

Methods

The study was conducted on a landscape with a mosaic of multiple land uses in Laikipia County, Kenya. We used occupancy estimates for four herbivore species [African elephant (Loxodonta africana), reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata), plains zebra (Equus quagga), and Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi)] and species richness estimates derived from aerial surveys to create resistance surfaces to movement for single species and a multi-species assemblage, respectively. We validated single-species resistance surfaces using telemetry data. We used circuit theory and least cost-path analyses to model linkage zones across the landscape and prioritize areas for connectivity restoration.

Results

Resistance layers approximated the movements of our focal species. Results for single-species and multi-species connectivity models were highly correlated (r_p > 0.9), indicating similar spatial patterns of functional connectivity between individual species and the larger herbivore assemblage. We identified critical linkage zones that may improve permeability to large-herbivore movements.

Conclusion

Our analysis highlights the utility of aerial surveys in modeling landscape connectivity and informing conservation management when animal movement data are scarce. Our results can guide management decisions, providing valuable information to evaluate the trade-offs between improving landscape connectivity and safeguarding livelihoods with electrified fences across rangelands.

中文翻译：

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穿越马赛克：在多次使用的非洲景观中确定大型食草动物的关键联系区

语境

草地生态系统之间的连通性降低会损害其功能异质性，并对大型草食动物种群产生负面影响。因此，在人类主导的牧场上保持景观连通性是保护工作的重点。

客观的

将大型食草动物的发生和物种丰富度的数据与功能性景观连通性分析相结合，以识别维护或恢复大型食草动物的连通性的重要区域。

方法

这项研究是在肯尼亚莱基皮亚县的一个具有多种土地用途的马赛克景观上进行的。我们使用了四种草食动物物种（非洲象（Loxodonta africana），网状长颈鹿（Giraffa reticulata），斑马斑马（Equus quagga）和Grevy斑马（Equus grevyi）的占有率估计值和从航空调查得出的物种丰富度估计值来创建抗性表面分别针对单个物种和多种物种的运动。我们使用遥测数据验证了单种电阻表面。我们使用电路理论和最小成本路径分析来对整个景观中的链接区域建模，并对连接恢复的区域进行优先排序。

结果

阻力层近似于我们焦点物种的运动。单物种和多物种连通性模型的结果高度相关（r _p  > 0.9），表明单个物种与较大的草食动物组合之间的功能连通性具有相似的空间格局。我们确定了关键的联系区，可以提高对大草食动物运动的渗透性。

结论

我们的分析强调了航空勘测在建模景观连通性和在缺乏动物运动数据时通知保护管理的实用性。我们的结果可以指导管理决策，提供有价值的信息，以评估在改善景观连通性和利用牧场的电气化围栏保护生计之间的权衡。