Natural Protected Areas as Providers of Ecological Connectivity in the Landscape: The Case of the Iberian Lynx

Iván Barbero-Bermejo, Gabriela Crespo-Luengo, Ricardo Enrique Hernández-Lambraño, David Rodríguez de la Cruz and José Ángel Sánchez-Agudo
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Iván Barbero-Bermejo: Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Diversidad humana y Biología de la Conservación, Campus Miguel de Unamuno s/n, Universidad de Salamanca, E-37007 Salamanca, Spain
Gabriela Crespo-Luengo: Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Diversidad humana y Biología de la Conservación, Campus Miguel de Unamuno s/n, Universidad de Salamanca, E-37007 Salamanca, Spain
Ricardo Enrique Hernández-Lambraño: Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Diversidad humana y Biología de la Conservación, Campus Miguel de Unamuno s/n, Universidad de Salamanca, E-37007 Salamanca, Spain
David Rodríguez de la Cruz: Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Diversidad humana y Biología de la Conservación, Campus Miguel de Unamuno s/n, Universidad de Salamanca, E-37007 Salamanca, Spain
José Ángel Sánchez-Agudo: Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Diversidad humana y Biología de la Conservación, Campus Miguel de Unamuno s/n, Universidad de Salamanca, E-37007 Salamanca, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: The design of conservation plans for the improvement of habitats of threatened species constitutes one of the most plausible possibilities of intervention in the structure and composition of the landscape of a large territory. In this work we focus on the Iberian lynx in order to establish potential ecological corridors using ecoinformatic tools from the GIS environment to improve connectivity between the existing natural spaces within the scope of its historical distribution. We processed 669 records of the presence of the lynx and six predictor variables linked to the habitat of the species. With this, corridors have been generated between natural areas. The determination of possible bottlenecks or dangerous areas (e.g., hitches on highways) allows for focusing efforts on their conservation. This type of approach seeks to improve efficiency in the design of measures aimed at expanding the territory’s capacity to host its populations, improving both its viability and that of all the other species that are linked to it. The proposals for action on the specific areas defined by the models elaborated in this work would imply interventions on the land uses and existing vegetation types in order to improve connectivity throughout the territory and increase the resilience of its ecosystems.

Keywords: landscape; GIS; Corridor Designer; MaxEnt; species distribution models; ecological corridors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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