Context

Maintaining and improving ecological connectivity is an important component of wildlife conservation. Omnidirectional circuit theory algorithms model the flow of electric current across a resistance grid from all directions, making them particularly useful for modeling connectivity of multiple or widespread species, or when source and destination sites are not specified, such as in the case of continuously distributed species.

Objectives

We compared three published omnidirectional connectivity methods—the point-based method, the wall-to-wall method, and the Omniscape method.

Methods

We compared the three omnidirectional connectivity methods using ten simulated resistance grids, representing commonly encountered landscape features. We then used three Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) snow-track datasets from Ontario, Canada to validate the ability of each method to detect landscape use.

Results

Current density maps generated by all three methods were highly correlated for most simulated landscapes, with the exception of uniform resistance grids. In uniform grids, without landscape features to guide current, each method revealed unique node-placement biases. All three methods produced similar connectivity maps for lynx, showing higher current at lynx presence locations compared to absence locations. The main differences between methods were not in their output, but in their implementation and use of computational resources.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that all three currently published omnidirectional connectivity models produce similar current density maps and can accurately map landscape connectivity. We provide guidelines for selecting a method based on factors such as computational resources, study area, and project goals.

中文翻译：

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全方位景观连通性估算方法的比较

语境

维持和改善生态连通性是野生动植物保护的重要组成部分。全向电路理论算法可以模拟流经电阻网格的所有方向的电流，这对于建模多个或广泛物种的连通性，或者在未指定源站点和目标站点的情况下（例如在连续分布的物种的情况下）特别有用。 。

目标

我们比较了三种公开的全向连接方法-基于点的方法，墙对墙方法和Omniscape方法。

方法

我们使用十个模拟电阻网格比较了三种全向连接方法，这些网格代表了常见的景观特征。然后，我们使用了来自加拿大安大略省的三个加拿大山猫（Lynx canadensis）雪迹数据集，以验证每种方法检测景观用途的能力。

结果

除均匀的电阻网格外，通过三种方法生成的电流密度图与大多数模拟景观高度相关。在统一的网格中，没有横向特征来引导电流，每种方法都显示出独特的节点放置偏差。这三种方法都为山猫产生了相似的连通性图，显示了在山猫存在的地方与不在的地方相比，电流更高。方法之间的主要区别不在于它们的输出，而在于它们的实现和计算资源的使用。

结论

我们的发现表明，所有三个当前发布的全向连通性模型均产生相似的电流密度图，并且可以准确地绘制景观连通性图。我们提供了根据诸如计算资源，研究区域和项目目标之类的因素选择方法的指南。