Landscape Ecology最新文献

{"title":"In search of Schrödinger's patch: a functional approach to habitat delineation.","authors":"Matthew Dennis, Jonathan Huck, Claire Holt, Ewan McHenry, Erik Andersson, Sonali Sharma, Dagmar Haase","doi":"10.1007/s10980-025-02291-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-025-02291-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>The effective delineation of habitat is crucial for understanding drivers of habitat loss and fragmentation, and their effects on biodiversity outcomes at local to global scales. The concept of the habitat patch is central to this process but presents both theoretical and methodological challenges related to the seemingly irreconcilable tendency of habitat to simultaneously exhibit characteristics of both gradation and aggregation. This apparent contradiction, recently described as the <i>continuity-contiguity problem</i> in landscape ecology, presents a problem of classification in which the associated ambivalence is analogous to that surrounding the fate of Schrödinger's Cat.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This is the first of a pair of papers that aim to address the theoretical and methodological challenges associated with the habitat patch concept. This first paper aims to (a) articulate the theoretical and practical limitations of working with the habitat patch concept and (b) set out a framework based on a functional definition of habitat that captures the tendency of resources to exhibit both discrete and continuous spatial characteristics. The second paper (Dennis et al. this issue) presents a demonstration of this framework applied to a real-world landscape, in which the impact of adopting alternative perspectives on habitat delineation on potential functional connectivity is revealed.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We present a new methodological approach that integrates alternative gradient and patch-based models of habitat in landscape ecology. We achieve this integration by leveraging the notion of geographical vagueness and the application of fuzzy set theory to land cover classification. We apply this approach to simulated landscapes that contain information on membership values to different land cover classes and their associated uncertainty. We then demonstrate the functional delineation of habitat from these landscapes based on the use of species-specific parameters, the leveraging of spatial kernels, and <i>type-1</i> and <i>type-2</i> fuzzy sets. The possibility of incorporating this approach into subsequent workflows is then described using estimates of between-patch distances and potential functional connectivity as examples.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our method provides a functional spatial delineation of habitat that reflects both resource-based and patch-based habitat perspectives and can be applied to any gradient or patch-based landscape modelling method. This approach achieves the integration of multiple resource types, habitat complementarity associated with neighbouring cover types, and negative edge effects. We refer to this measure of habitat as <i>Functional Habitat</i> so-called as it reflects the total availability of habitat accounting for the influence of all land cover types and positive and negative neighbourhood effects.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This paper d","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 2","pages":"36"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12852142/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146108478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adapting a systematic conservation planning tool for supporting accessible and diverse urban greenspace recreation.","authors":"Jieying Huang, Sarah E Gergel, Melissa R McHale","doi":"10.1007/s10980-026-02311-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-026-02311-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Urban greenspaces are increasingly recognized for their multifunctionality-the capacity to provide diverse ecological and social benefits. Yet, planning strategies often focus on greenspace availability and accessibility, overlooking the functional and structural diversity within and among urban greenspaces. Traditional hotspot-based approaches typically prioritize areas with high richness, while overlooking rare and unique features that, despite their low abundance, may be critical to overall multifunctionality.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>With a focus on park amenities, this study explored the unique capabilities of Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP) for evaluating the diversity and complementarity of recreational opportunities in a region-wide urban park system. We further integrated mobility considerations to offer a more nuanced approach to greenspace monitoring. We asked: How do different measures of accessibility and mobility shape selection of park portfolios?</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>As a proof-of-concept, we adapted a SCP approach, often used in biodiversity conservation, to identify greenspace portfolios in the City of Surrey, BC, Canada, a region with detailed mapping of diverse park amenities. Two contrasting scales of accessibility (neighborhood blocks vs. pixel-based) were used as constraints, and then evaluated under varying mobility (i.e. travel distance) assumptions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found finer scale (i.e. pixel-based) accessibility measures captured portfolios with a greater proportion of urban park amenities (80-100%) compared to block-level measures (1-67%), and also selected more spatially aggregated portfolios across the city. Irreplaceability patterns-indicating the parks most critical for diverse recreational amenities-varied depending on how accessibility was quantified. Lastly, more neighbourhoods were included in park portfolios as mobility (travel) distance increased, but this growth was non-linear.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our work demonstrates SCP's potential as a valuable tool for planning and evaluating urban greenspace recreational opportunities. It offers a proof-of-concept for applying spatial prioritization in urban contexts, and can be feasibly expanded to include many additional aspects of park multi-functionality. Use of finer-scale measures of accessibility (as a cost constraint), and different mobility (i.e. travel distance) assumptions, further enhanced the selection of park portfolios that can provide diverse recreational opportunities.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-026-02311-4.</p>","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 3","pages":"53"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12979426/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147470235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scale-dependent foraging behaviour and habitat associations of two sympatric marine top predators.","authors":"Matt I D Carter, Geert Aarts, Sophie M J M Brasseur, Gordon D Hastie, Simon E W Moss, Jacob Nabe-Nielsen, Jonas Teilmann, Dave Thompson, Paul M Thompson, Cécile Vincent, Debbie J F Russell","doi":"10.1007/s10980-025-02281-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-025-02281-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Theoretical research has considered how animals should optimise foraging strategies to maximise fitness, adapting search scale to exploit different habitats and minimise competition. Empirical studies have described multi-scale area-restricted search (ARS) strategies for some species, but the physical and biological mechanisms underpinning such behaviour are rarely studied.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Our objectives were to quantify the presence, prevalence, and habitat associations of scale-dependent foraging for two sympatric seal species, accounting for regional variation across the seascape.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyse a GPS telemetry dataset of 116 grey (<i>Halichoerus grypus</i>) and 325 harbour seals (<i>Phoca vitulina</i>) tracked throughout the North Sea. We test the existence of multi-scale ARS, comparing hidden Markov models (HMMs) with two ARS states against more conventional HMMs (one ARS state). We quantify regional variation and examine the scale-dependence of foraging habitat associations using <i>post-hoc</i> \"use-encounter\" models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both species exhibited nested broad-scale and focussed ARS. Accounting for scale resulted in increases of up to 25% and 46% in inferred ARS for grey and harbour seals respectively. The prevalence and habitat associations of different ARS scales varied in a regional species-specific manner.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We demonstrate the first application of HMMs to capture multi-scale ARS from animal-borne tracking data. Overlooking scale-dependence may mask individual variation and underestimate ARS, with consequences for ecological understanding and conservation applications. We hypothesise that seals employ different search scales for different habitats, competition levels and/or prey types. We call for further research to elucidate the prevalence and ecological significance of this phenomenon in other aquatic predators.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02281-z.</p>","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 2","pages":"21"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12811352/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145999695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Configurational heterogeneity drives songbird diversity at distinct spatial scales in managed boreal forests.","authors":"Isabelle Lebeuf-Taylor, Juan Andrés Martínez Lanfranco, Erin Bayne","doi":"10.1007/s10980-026-02341-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-026-02341-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Parsing scale-dependent responses of wildlife communities to mosaic landscapes is key to evaluating conservation outcomes of natural resource development.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>We evaluate how spatial heterogeneity of harvest plans and oil and gas activity influence local boreal songbird species richness at ecologically relevant spatial extents.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We implemented a multi-scale framework by varying extents at which species richness and landscape configuration metrics are measured. Birds were surveyed with Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) in harvest plots across forested zones of Alberta, Canada, and species richness counted at 13 increasingly broad extents. For five configuration metrics, multiple landscape extents were compared to identify scale of effects unique to each response extent.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Four of five metrics converged on a domain boundary at 11-14 ha. Below this threshold, within-harvest heterogeneity indexing linear features and residual retention-edge density and Shannon diversity-drove species richness. Above it, mosaic configuration metrics (patch size variation, shape complexity) became influential alongside edge density and Shannon diversity. No single landscape extent was associated with species richness across response extents.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Effects of landscape heterogeneity on songbird diversity at within-harvest and mosaic scales can be detected from individual PAM surveys when survey extent is appropriately constrained. Empirically identifying the spatial extents at which community diversity responds to configuration allows forest planners to match monitoring design and management actions to the scale at which they will have the greatest effect.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-026-02341-y.</p>","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 5","pages":"86"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13156193/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147870430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Connectivity indices can predict population persistence in river networks: insights from a metapopulation model.","authors":"Ali Gharouni, Richard Pither, Bronwyn Rayfield, David Cote, Frithjof Lutscher","doi":"10.1007/s10980-025-02278-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-025-02278-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Connectivity across river networks facilitates species movement and ecological processes that contribute to freshwater biodiversity. Certain indices provide measures of connectivity to focus conservation planning.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Our objective was to test whether commonly used connectivity indicators based on network structure can reliably predict population persistence.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used a spatially explicit metapopulation model for freshwater fish that complete their life cycle entirely within river networks and depend on connectivity for movement. Simulations were conducted across a range of network sizes, topologies, dispersal abilities, and barrier passabilities. We assessed the relationship between the Dendritic Connectivity Index (DCI) and metrics of persistence at the network and the reach scale.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>DCI was strongly correlated with persistence at both the network and reach scale across most simulated network sizes and configurations, particularly in dendritic (branching) systems with symmetric barrier passability. At the network scale, correlations were strongest with density-independent persistence metrics, which is expected since DCI does not incorporate population interactions. Species dispersal ability influenced DCI-persistence correlations differently across scales: correlations were strongest at the network scale when dispersal distances spanned the full network (global dispersal) and at the reach scale when movement was limited to neighbouring segments (local dispersal). We also found that increases in DCI following simulated barrier removal were associated with improvements in persistence, further demonstrating its potential to support restoration efforts.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Indicators like DCI can inform connectivity-focused conservation planning in river networks.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02278-8.</p>","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 2","pages":"27"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12827428/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146055046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Context matters: how river typology shapes biotic responses to fine sediment pressure.","authors":"Kate L Mathers, Morwenna McKenzie, Adrian L Collins, Jessica M Durkota, J Iwan Jones, John F Murphy","doi":"10.1007/s10980-026-02297-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-026-02297-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Excess fine sediment is a global stressor affecting freshwater biodiversity. However, little consideration has been given to how large-scale landscape controls and temporal variability may influence the effect of fine sediment deposition and storage on biological communities.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>We assess if ecological responses to deposited fine sediment are spatially and temporally consistent through the application of the river typology approach.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used 2,940 records from 391 wadable streams across England and Wales to identify taxonomic and functional community composition change points, in addition to individual family responses along the fine sediment gradient. We also examined the association of taxonomic and functional community diversity metrics and biomonitoring metrics with deposited fine sediment coverage.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Mid-altitude rivers displayed a lower community threshold (~ < 10% fine sediment cover) of deposited fine sediment before the majority of community change occurred, whilst lowland rivers were more tolerant (20-25%). Critically, we found that both mid-altitude river types demonstrated no association with two fine sediment stressor-specific metrics and that some community metrics displayed a positive association with increasing fine sediment cover.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Community and family level responses to deposited fine sediment are non-linear, which can be characterized effectively by river typologies and most notably altitude groupings. Low levels of deposited fine sediment may not act as a stressor in mid-altitude catchments as these may be resource limited. Our research underlines the need to consider context-specific effects of fine-grained sedimentation rather than seeking to generalise stressor effects.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-026-02297-z.</p>","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 2","pages":"41"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12890971/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146182575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Human occupation of the Afroalpine Bale Mountains at the onset of the African Humid Period.","authors":"Götz Ossendorf, Minassie Girma Tekelemariam, Noora Taipale, Alexander R Groos, Agazi Negash, Dries Cnuts, Naki Akçar, Christof Vockenhuber, Zinash Kefyalew Tariku, Trhas Hadush Kahsay, Veerle Rots, Ralf Vogelsang","doi":"10.1007/s10980-026-02337-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-026-02337-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>The reasons for the intermittent human use of harsh Afroalpine environments in prehistory remain unclear. High-resolution glacial and archaeological chronologies from Ethiopia's Bale Mountains now offer insights into landscape change and human adaptations at high altitudes.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study investigates the behavioral signatures of human occupation in Africa's largest alpine environment around 15,000 years ago, focusing on local site use and integration into regional networks amid deglaciation and the abrupt onset of African Humid Period wet conditions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This research integrates surface exposure dating of moraine boulders and radiocarbon dating of archaeological rock shelter deposits with detailed analyses of lithic materials from three stratified sites in the Bale Mountains. We use multivariate statistical analyses of electron microprobe data to determine the geochemical provenance of obsidian artifacts. Lithic technological analysis is based on systematic recording of artifact attributes to reconstruct key stages of production. Functional analyses include use-wear and residue studies conducted using stereomicroscopy, reflected light microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study provides a detailed reconstruction of the final deglaciation phase in the Bale Mountains and identifies distinct patterns of lithic acquisition, production, and use across three contemporaneous sites. Dimtu, located on the formerly glaciated plateau and representing the highest known stratified archaeological site in Africa, is distinguished by a focus on the production of rare but specific pointed flakes. Simbero exhibits standardized backed tool production and evidence of hafting, while the Webi Gestro assemblage includes bladelets and notched tools; wear on unretouched bladelets indicates their use in transverse and longitudinal motions for processing activities and possibly as projectile elements. Geochemical results reveal obsidian exchange between high altitudes and lowlands, suggesting extensive social networks reinforced by technological and behavioral parallels.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Human strategies at high altitudes closely mirror contemporaneous lowland behavior, revealing synchronous patterns across ecological zones. Similar patterns during other periods point to broader systemic dynamics. Conventional refugium-based explanations fail to fully capture these patterns, highlighting the need to examine diachronic shifts in the scale, connectivity, and intensity of prehistoric networks across ecozones.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-026-02337-8.</p>","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 4","pages":"75"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13083501/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147724947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reimagining land system science in seascapes.","authors":"Elizabeth O Ruff, Matthew Clark, Lucas Alencar, Katie Devenish, Philip A Loring, Sandy Nofyanza, Johan A Oldekop, Mary A Young, Joshua E Cinner","doi":"10.1007/s10980-026-02429-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-026-02429-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Terrestrial concepts often guide the science and management of marine systems, as exhibited by the influence of landscape ecology on seascape ecology. However, the theoretical assumptions that inform these concepts have not been sufficiently interrogated within the distinct social-ecological realities of seascapes.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>We call for a 'sea system science' that navigates the human dimensions of seascape change to advance the study and management of ocean spaces.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We evaluate two terrestrial concepts (intensification and expansion) that underpin common approaches to marine management. We establish key dimensions of theoretical (mis)alignment across agriculture, forestry, hunting, marine aquaculture, and capture fisheries.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Seascape uses are substantively different from their landscape counterparts, though there is limited alignment between agriculture and marine aquaculture and between hunting and capture fisheries. We outline opportunities for sea system science to both interrogate terrestrial management concepts and develop an alternative management ontology tailored to seascapes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>A sea system science that engages with the human dimensions of seascape change and co-evolves with seascape ecology offers a pathway toward management approaches that are grounded in the social-ecological realities of marine spaces. Without closer attention to these dimensions, seascape ecology risks implementing terrestrial management practices that are procedurally feasible but ecologically and socioeconomically ineffective.</p>","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 11","pages":"192"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13645946/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149139337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond network-based approaches: uncovering the true cost of connectivity.","authors":"Karolina Argote, Benoît Geslin, Lucyle Hernandez-Possémé, Mailys Queru, Mathieu Santonja, Cécile H Albert","doi":"10.1007/s10980-026-02382-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-026-02382-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Fragmented landscapes challenge biodiversity conservation. While connectivity elements are promoted to mitigate the effects of fragmentation, their effectiveness remains debated.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study evaluates the effectiveness of corridors and stepping stones in enhancing dispersal success and population dynamics in a high-resistance matrix. We compare two experimental approaches: a landscape-based design that explicitly accounts for matrix resistance, and a traditional network-based design in which habitat patches are connected by tubes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a laboratory experiment using the microarthropod model <i>Folsomia candida</i>, manipulating fragmentation by varying the distance between four habitat patches embedded in a high-resistance matrix. Connectivity elements (corridors and stepping stones) were tested and compared with unconnected landscapes (control) and network-based designs. Over 12 weeks, we monitored colonization success, population size, reproduction rate, and adult survival using AI-based image analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The presence of corridors as a connectivity element enhanced the colonization of initially empty patches, but their effectiveness was distance-dependent. Stepping stones did not differ from the non-connected control landscapes. Interestingly, the largest total populations were found in the non-connected control landscapes, where restricted dispersal resulted in higher reproduction, indicating a trade-off between movement and reproduction. The highest mortality of released adults was observed in landscapes with corridors, whereas higher recruitment was observed in stepping stones landscapes. Network-based designs yielded a higher population size in initially empty patches compared to landscape-scale designs. However, as they bypassed matrix-related dispersal costs, they led to a miss-estimation of the movement, reproduction, survival and recruitment processes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Connectivity elements can support dispersal and reproduction, but may also increase mortality in resistant matrices. Conservation strategies should incorporate matrix resistance and landscape-scale context to better promote population dynamics in fragmented landscapes.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-026-02382-3.</p>","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 8","pages":"136"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13437652/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148681033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Designing nature networks for cities: combining multi-species modelling approaches.","authors":"Anna M Bracken, Luca Nelli, Luigi Cao Pinna, Alistair Corbett, Rory McLeod, Davide M Dominoni, Dominic J McCafferty","doi":"10.1007/s10980-026-02315-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10980-026-02315-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Urban wildlife habitats are often fragmented and of poor quality, yet cities hold potential to support biodiversity, particularly for small-bodied species like insect pollinators. Enhancing habitat connectivity is essential for improving biodiversity and increasingly prioritised in planning frameworks. Combining diverse approaches to assess habitat connectivity may yield the greatest overall success.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>We compare two multi-species modelling approaches for assessing urban ecological corridors. The first species-specific approach uses combined habitat suitability maps of four insect pollinators and assesses connectivity using resistance modelling (circuit theory). The second landscape-level approach has been developed by urban environmental planners (\"Green Network Development officers\") and identifies core areas as species-rich habitat patches using spatial data, species records (of plant and pollinator indicator species), and local expertise, then models connectivity between these using least-cost paths. By comparing these two approaches, we aim to identify gaps and priority areas for habitat creation or management.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using biological records, we mapped habitat suitability for pollinators and applied circuit theory to assess connectivity and identify \"pinch points\"-bottlenecks to movement that can be targeted for corridor enhancement.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>While both approaches showed 39 km² of overlap, 31 pinch points-often centred around core pollinator habitat-were outside the corridors identified by Green Network Development officers. These areas could be prioritised in future iterations of the ecological network.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our species-specific modelling approach identified 31 pinch points outside of planner-defined corridors, highlighting important areas of movement constraint not captured by the current planning framework. Incorporating species-specific modelling into urban planning also helps identify key habitat variables impeding movement, enhancing the biological understanding of the system. We recommend urban planners adopt multiple, complementary approaches for corridor delineation and collaborate with researchers, ecologists, and citizen scientists.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-026-02315-0.</p>","PeriodicalId":54745,"journal":{"name":"Landscape Ecology","volume":"41 3","pages":"56"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12982267/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147470212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}