Addressing fragmented habitats
Habitat fragmentation alone poses a serious threat to biodiversity and ecosystems by restricting plant and animal populations. This affects their ability to migrate and reduces the flow of genes between populations. This problem can be addressed, however, through environmental policies that develop land corridors between scattered habitats, thereby conserving biodiversity and its supporting ecosystems. The DYVERSE initiative developed new quantitative tools for improving understanding and projections of global change in the coming century. These tools are needed for testing future scenarios of change. They will also be used to develop the policies and land-management strategies required to enable society to adapt to the effects of climate change. Project partners used the Monteregie region of Quebec in Canada as a case study. It is both rich in biodiversity and a highly fragmented landscape, which is undergoing climate change, while feeding and being inhabited by nearly four million people. Researchers developed a multi-species and multi-environmental change conceptual framework for demonstrating the different scales involved (local to regional). Around this framework the consortium developed modelling tools capable of simulating potential future land-use scenarios. This made it possible to test separately the changes in landscape configuration and composition. Researchers used graph theory as a basis for landscape connectivity analyses and for defining climate-proof habitat networks. The consortium also combined complementary modelling tools such as niche-based models to assess climate impacts and a vegetation modelling tool to simulate vegetation dynamics. Other models simulated ecosystem services and habitat quality. A set of 14 vertebrate species were selected for their diversity of habitat requirements, life history traits and dispersal abilities. They were then used to test the impact of small-scale land-use changes on overall habitat structure. Researchers also studied the joint effect of climate and land-use change and the use of habitat connecting corridors as a conservation strategy. DYVERSE provided a new set of modelling tools and valuable insights into the use of connecting habitats to resolve multi-scale land-use planning challenges. The project also highlighted the need for biodiversity and ecosystem services to be conserved and habitat loss reduced through the creation of wildlife corridors.
Keywords
Biodiversity, habitat fragmentation, land corridors, fragmented landscape, ecosystem services
