Abstract
Habitat loss and the destruction of habitat connectivity can lead to species extinction by isolation of population. Identifying important habitat corridors to enhance habitat connectivity is imperative for species conservation by preserving dispersal pattern to maintain genetic diversity. Circuit theory is a novel tool to model habitat connectivity as it considers habitat as an electronic circuit board and species movement as a certain amount of current moving around through different resistors in the circuit. Most studies involving circuit theory have been carried out at small scales on large ranging animals like wolves or pumas, and more recently on tigers. This calls for a study that tests circuit theory at a large scale to model micro-scale habitat connectivity. The present study on a small South-Asian geoemydid, the Tricarinate Hill-turtle (<i>Melanochelys tricarinata</i>), focuses on habitat connectivity at a very fine scale. The Tricarinate has a small body size (carapace length: 127–175 mm) and home range (8000–15000 m<sup>2</sup>), with very specific habitat requirements and movement patterns. We used very high resolution Worldview satellite data and extensive field observations to derive a model of landscape permeability at 1 : 2,000 scale to suit the target species. Circuit theory was applied to model potential corridors between core habitat patches for the Tricarinate Hill-turtle. The modelled corridors were validated by extensive ground tracking data collected using thread spool technique and found to be functional. Therefore, circuit theory is a promising tool for accurately identifying corridors, to aid in habitat studies of small species.
Highlights
1.1 Effect of fragmentation and habitat lossFragmentation and habitat loss are severe threats to the conservation of global biodiversity and considered the primary cause of rapid species extinction (Wilox and Murphy, 1985)
Based on extensive field observations of nesting behaviour and habitat use, the dense Sal patches were identified as the core habitat patches for the Tricarinate Hill-turtle. 21 such patches were marked from the Landuse/ Landcover (LULC) map
Dense Sal covers most of the area in the campus (35.83%), which forms the core habitat of the Tricarinate Hill-turtle
Summary
1.1 Effect of fragmentation and habitat lossFragmentation and habitat loss are severe threats to the conservation of global biodiversity and considered the primary cause of rapid species extinction (Wilox and Murphy, 1985). Habitat loss can reduce habitat quality and result in reduced biodiversity especially for small forest dwelling species (Barnes et al, 1998) Due to these threats, changes in the habitat quality, such as the loss of forest cover contiguity, can influence a species life history traits, including changes in spatial patterns of species movement, habitat use, nest site selection, and home range (citation). Changes in the habitat quality, such as the loss of forest cover contiguity, can influence a species life history traits, including changes in spatial patterns of species movement, habitat use, nest site selection, and home range (citation) These changes in a species life history traits caused by habitat loss and fragmentation can negatively affect species, resulting in declining population sizes and thereby increasing the chances of extinction by some stochastic environmental or demographic events (Groombridge 1992) and (Burkey 1989). Human interventions in animal habitats, such as roads or highways, caused road deaths of nesting migrant female freshwater turtles, which has the potential to alter their population structure and skew their sex ratios (Steen and Gibbs, 2004)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
