Mapping connectivity and conflict risk to identify safe corridors for the Persian leopard

Clara Sichau,Tobias Kuemmerle,Mahmood Soofi,Peyman Moghadas,Amirhossein Kh Hamidi,Arash Ghoddousi,Pooriya Sepahvand,Benjamin Bleyhl,Delaram Ashayeri

doi:10.1007/s10980-020-01062-0

Abstract

ContextMany 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.ObjectivesWe 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.MethodsWe 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.ResultsLeopard 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.ConclusionsHuman-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.

Highlights

Landscapes across the globe are increasingly humandominated (Tilman et al 2017)
We focused on the area between Golestan National Park and Jahan Nama Protected Area in the eastern Alborz Mountains, Iran, where no protected areas exist, but leopard occurrence has been reported (Kiabi et al 2002)
We show how assessments of habitat, landscape permeability, and human-carnivore conflict risk can be combined to identify safe and high-risk corridors for large carnivores in humandominated landscapes

Summary

Introduction

Landscapes across the globe are increasingly humandominated (Tilman et al 2017) This is problematic for large carnivores, which are wideranging and require large tracts of suitable and wellconnected habitat (Crooks et al 2011; Ripple et al 2014). Across the globe, these species are currently disappearing over large extents of their historical range as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation, as well as high mortality in human-dominated landscapes (Di Marco et al 2014; Wolf and Ripple 2017). Conservation planning to protect large carnivores and the ecological functions they provide must look beyond protected areas and identify strategies so these species can persist in human-dominated landscapes (Sanderson et al 2002; Goswami and Vasudev 2017)

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