Use of least-cost path analysis to identify potential movement corridors of swift foxes in Montana

Alexander, Jessica K.; Olimb, Sarah K.; Bly, Kristy; Restani, Marco

doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyw032

Cited by 22 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Moehrenschlager (2000) found 64% of swift fox juveniles remained in their natal range into the winter, and all the juvenile foxes we were able to monitor into spring remained in the area where we caught them (Butler et al, 2020), which may have led to their relatively high survival rates (Table 3). Thus, the stable growth rate we observed suggests that the population is likely not acting as a source population for the region; and could explain why despite there being suitable habitat in the gap between populations (Alexander et al, 2016;Butler, 2019), areas south of our study area remain unoccupied.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Our study indicates that the population of swift foxes in north‐eastern Montana is currently stable, but likely not producing enough individuals to successfully expand southward into unoccupied habitat that is suitable based on previous habitat assessments (Alexander et al ., 2016; Butler, 2019). In source‐sink theory, source populations occur in areas where reproduction is greater than mortality, and there is a surplus of juveniles in the population that disperse to other areas (Pulliam, 1988).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Life on the edge: habitat fragmentation limits expansion of a restored carnivore

Butler

Bly

Harris

et al. 2020

Animal Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The successful recovery of imperiled species is dependent on knowledge of how demographic drivers mediate population growth and expansion. One of the largest species restoration projects has been the reintroduction of swift foxes Vulpes velox to southern Canada, where 947 foxes were released between 1983 and 1997. Swift foxes have since increased and expanded their range into northern Montana (USA), but have experienced a population decline and stall in recolonization over the past 10 years. The objective of this study was to estimate the survival and reproductive rates of swift foxes in northern Montana, which constitutes the southern edge of this population. In addition, we evaluated support for two different hypotheses of how environmental factors and several demographic factors influence survival. Although our length of monitoring was relatively short, we found that adult and juvenile annual survival rates were 54% and 74%, respectively, and fecundity was 0.85. We found the most support for the hypothesis that the percentage of native grassland at the 1‐km scale influenced survival and found that survival increased, on average, 2.1% for every 5% increase in grassland. Compared to previous estimates of swift fox population growth immediately following the release, our data suggest the population is currently stable. The long‐term successful recolonization and connectivity of swift fox populations in this region will likely be dependent on maintaining large tracts of contiguous grassland. Comparing the estimates of demographic rates among different points in space and time should help managers better understand the population dynamics and inform restoration strategies for recovering populations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life on the edge: habitat fragmentation limits expansion of a restored carnivore

Butler

Bly

Harris

et al. 2020

Animal Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is possible that the seed dispersers have similar requirements, in which case the model would represent the resistance to the movement of the disperser, and therefore, the gene ow of these species. Although the method has some limitations, the Least-cost-path models can be used for the establishment of biological corridors (Li et al 2010;Alexander et al 2016).…”

Section: ) Structural Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of the landscape on functional and spatial connectivity in Magnolia cubensis (Magnoliaceae) in two mountain massifs of Cuba

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Landscape features impact gene ow and the spatial patterns of genetic variation between populations of a species. Because many Magnoliaceae species occur in fragmented and highly disturbed landscapes, the family is an excellent model for landscape genetic studies. This research focuses on the subspecies and localities of Magnolia cubensis and aims to: (1) compare the genetic diversity, (2) search for genetic patterns, (3) describe the functional connectivity and (4) access the structural connectivity of the landscape. This study employs 21 microsatellite markers on two subspecies, complemented with landscape characteristics of the Guamuhaya and Sierra Maestra massifs in Cuba. Magnolia cubensis subsp. acunae does not have a well-de ned spatial genetic pattern: there is no evidence of isolation by distance or spatial autocorrelation and the little genetic differentiation between the two localities does not re ect the characteristics of the landscape that separates them or the cost values to cross it. Magnolia cubensis subsp. cubensis presents evidence of isolation by distance and the autocorrelation analyses indicate that the approximate scale of the genetic neighborhood is between 35 and 40 km. There is a marked genetic structure with probability values that indicate the existence of three genetic groups. Large genetic differentiation was only found between Gran Piedra and the other localities, which re ects low gene ow. Our results support the recognition of these subspecies at the species level. We de ne one evolutionary signi cant unit in Magnolia cubensis subsp. acunae and two evolutionary signi cant units in Magnolia cubensis subsp. cubensis. These results must be combined with ecological, social and distribution data, in order to obtain a more accurate and realistic perspective of the conservation management strategies for these taxa.

show abstract

“…One option for creating a cost surface is to use habitat suitability models (but see, [ 28 ]). Least-cost analyses are widely used in ecology for identifying potential movement paths and corridors [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], and have application in the maintaining of habitat connectivity [ 32 ] and in the planning of greenways [ 33 ]. Although Mineur et al [ 34 ] used least-cost path (LCP) analysis to measure distances to estimate range expansions of marine macrophytes, the LCP analysis was only used to avoid measuring the distance over the mainland, i.e., the coastline was recognized as a barrier that prevented movement of marine macrophytes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of the Recent Expansion Rate of Ruspolia nitidula (Orthoptera) on a Regional and Landscape Scale

Kaláb

Pyszko

Kočárek

2021

Insects

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent changes in insect distribution are consistent with the expected interacting effects of climate and habitat change. The orthopteran Ruspolia nitidula has expanded its area of distribution in Western and Central Europe in recent decades. Because males emit a sound that is easily detected at a distance of up to 40 m, it is possible to detect spreading individuals and to therefore document routes and rates of spread. Using occurrence data at the landscape scale and three methods, including least-cost path analysis with habitat suitability, we estimated the R. nitidula expansion rate from 2006 to 2020 in the Czech Republic; this involved estimating distances between two origin occurrences in 2006 and two occurrences on the area margin in 2020. For comparison, we directly monitored expansion based on detection of singing males at the regional scale at the areal margin in the Odra River basin (2016–2020). The estimated maximum expansion rate ranged from 13.8 to 16.2 km/year based on occurrence data at the landscape scale and from 11.1 to 11.7 km/year based on the monitoring of males in the Odra River basin. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the direct monitoring of individual spreading males to detect changes in the distribution of an orthopteran.

show abstract

Use of least-cost path analysis to identify potential movement corridors of swift foxes in Montana

Cited by 22 publications

References 24 publications

Life on the edge: habitat fragmentation limits expansion of a restored carnivore

Life on the edge: habitat fragmentation limits expansion of a restored carnivore

Effect of the landscape on functional and spatial connectivity in Magnolia cubensis (Magnoliaceae) in two mountain massifs of Cuba

Estimation of the Recent Expansion Rate of Ruspolia nitidula (Orthoptera) on a Regional and Landscape Scale

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About