Landscape Connectivity and Suitable Habitat Analysis for Wolves (Canis lupus L.) in the Eastern Pyrenees
dc.contributor.author
dc.date.accessioned
2020-07-27T07:25:49Z
dc.date.available
2020-07-27T07:25:49Z
dc.date.issued
2020-07-17
dc.identifier.uri
dc.description.abstract
Over the last few decades, much of the mountain area in European countries has turned into potential habitat for species of medium- and large-sized mammals. Some of the occurrences that explain this trend are biodiversity protection, the creation of natural protected areas, and the abandonment of traditional agricultural activities. In recent years, wolves have once again been seen in forests in the eastern sector of the Pyrenees and the Pre-Pyrenees. The success or failure of their permanent settlement will depend on several factors, including conservation measures for the species, habitat availability, and the state of landscape connectivity. The aim of this study is to analyze the state of landscape connectivity for fragments of potential wolf habitat in Catalonia, Andorra, and on the French side of the Eastern Pyrenees. The results show that a third of the area studied constitutes potential wolf habitat and almost 90% of these spaces are of sufficient size to host stable packs. The set of potential wolf habitat fragments was also assessed using the probability of connectivity index (dPC), which analyses landscape connectivity based on graph structures. According to the graph theory, the results confirm that all the nodes or habitat fragments are directly or indirectly interconnected, thus forming a single component. Given the large availability of suitable habitat and the current state of landscape connectivity for the species, the dispersal of the wolf would be favorable if stable packs are formed. A new established population in the Pyrenees could lead to more genetic exchange between the Iberian wolf population and the rest of Europe’s wolf populations
dc.format.mimetype
application/pdf
dc.language.iso
eng
dc.publisher
MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
dc.relation.isformatof
Reproducció digital del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145762
dc.relation.ispartof
Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, núm. 14, p. 5762
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Articles publicats (D-G)
dc.rights
Attribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.uri
dc.title
Landscape Connectivity and Suitable Habitat Analysis for Wolves (Canis lupus L.) in the Eastern Pyrenees
dc.type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.rights.accessRights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.type.version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.identifier.doi
dc.type.peerreviewed
peer-reviewed
dc.identifier.eissn
2071-1050