Abstract
Ecological processes are increasingly well understood over smaller areas, yet information regarding interconnections and the hierarchical nature of ecosystems remains less studied and understood. Information on connectivity over large areas with high resolution source information provides for both local detail and regional context. The emerging capacity to apply circuit theory to create maps of omnidirectional connectivity provides an opportunity for improved and quantitative depictions of forest connectivity, supporting the formation and testing of hypotheses about the density of animal movement, ecosystem structure, and related links to natural and anthropogenic forces. In this research, our goal was to delineate regions where connectivity regimes are similar across the boreal region of Canada using new quantitative analyses for characterizing connectivity over large areas (e.g., millions of hectares). Utilizing the Earth Observation for Sustainable Development of forests (EOSD) circa 2000 Landsat-derived land-cover map, we created and analyzed a national-scale map of omnidirectional forest connectivity at 25m resolution over 10000 tiles of 625 km2 each, spanning the forested regions of Canada. Using image recognition software to detect corridors, pinch points, and barriers to movements at multiple spatial scales in each tile, we developed a simple measure of the structural complexity of connectivity patterns in omnidirectional connectivity maps. We then mapped the Circuitscape resistance distance measure and used it in conjunction with the complexity data to study connectivity characteristics in each forested ecozone. Ecozone boundaries masked substantial systematic patterns in connectivity characteristics that are uncovered using a new classification of connectivity patterns that revealed six clear groups of forest connectivity patterns found in Canada. The resulting maps allow exploration of omnidirectional forest connectivity patterns at full resolution while permitting quantitative analyses of connectivity over broad areas, informing modeling, planning and monitoring efforts.
Highlights
Forests provide a broad range of ecosystem goods and services [1], and as the Earth’s human population increases, so do demands on the planet’s forest resources [2]
Using the techniques outlined in Pelletier et al [31], we describe the division of the landscape into tens of thousands of interlocking tiles, the computation and analysis of omnidirectional connectivity surfaces, and the characteristics of the national-scale mosaic
We describe new techniques for assessing the features of these landscape connectivity surfaces representing ease of movement and the configuration of the current density surface, using the new measures to classify the entirety of forested Canada into distinct connectivity groups
Summary
Forests provide a broad range of ecosystem goods and services [1], and as the Earth’s human population increases, so do demands on the planet’s forest resources [2]. Climate change is impacting Canada’s forests; together, these factors indicate a need for understanding forest connectivity across broad spatial scales and demand increased monitoring efforts and adaptive management strategies [8]. The ecosystem concept of ecological connectivity has been defined as the connectedness of ecological processes, such as energy flow through an interaction network wherein species are connected via trophic relationships [13]. Habitat connectivity is a species-specific concept defined as the potential for movements between habitat patches, and quantified at either patch or landscape scales [12, 14, 15]. Increases in landscape connectivity are generally beneficial in the context of ecological connectivity and a positive correlation between landscape connectivity and ecological connectivity may often exist [16, 17], such as the facilitation of seed dispersal through corridors [18], the maintenance of some ecological processes may not be enabled solely by increases in landscape connectivity alone
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