The Role of Landscape Connectivity in Planning and Implementing Conservation and Restoration Priorities. Issues in Ecology

Landscape connectivity, the extent to which a landscape facilitates the movements of organisms and their genes, faces critical threats from both fragmentation and habitat loss. Many conservation efforts focus on protecting and enhancing connectivity to offset the impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on biodiversity conservation, and to increase the resilience of reserve networks to potential threats associated with climate change. Loss of connectivity can reduce the size and quality of available habitat, impede and disrupt movement (including dispersal) to new habitats, and affect seasonal migration patterns. These changes can lead, in turn, to detrimental effects for populations and species, including decreased carrying capacity, population declines, loss of genetic variation, and ultimately species extinction. Measuring and mapping connectivity is facilitated by a growing number of quantitative approaches that can integrate large amounts of information about organisms’ life histories, habitat quality, and other features essential to evaluating connectivity for a given population or species. However, identifying effective approaches for maintaining and restoring connectivity poses several challenges, and our understanding of how connectivity should be designed to mitigate the impacts of climate change is, as yet, in its infancy. Scientists and managers must confront and overcome several challenges inherent in evaluating and planning for connectivity, including: •characterizing the biology of focal species; •understanding the strengths and the limitations of the models used to evaluate connectivity; •considering spatial and temporal extent in connectivity planning; •using caution in extrapolating results outside of observed conditions; •considering non-linear relationships that can complicate assumed or expected ecological responses; •accounting and planning for anthropogenic change in the landscape; •using well-defined goals and objectives to drive the selection of methods used for evaluating and planning for connectivity; •and communicating to the general public in clear and meaningful language the importance of connectivity to improve awareness and strengthen policies for ensuring conservation. Several aspects of connectivity science deserve additional attention in order to improve the effectiveness of design and implementation. Research on species persistence, behavioral ecology, and community structure is needed to reduce the uncertainty associated with connectivity models. Evaluating and testing connectivity responses to climate change will be critical to achieving conservation goals in the face of the rapid changes that will confront many communities and ecosystems. All of these potential areas of advancement will fall short of conservation goals if we do not effectively incorporate human activities into connectivity planning. While this Issue identifies substantial uncertainties in mapping connectivity and evaluating resilience to climate change, it is also clear that integrating human and natural landscape conservation planning to enhance habitat connectivity is essential for biodiversity conservation

Linking Statewide Connectivity Planning to Highway Mitigation: Taking the Next Step in Linking

Statewide connectivity planning represents an important first step for informing the transportation planning process at the statewide and regional levels. However, without finer scale assessment, such broad-scale planning does not provide sufficient information for integration into project-level designs. The Linking Colorado’s Landscapes project – designated as a 2006 Exemplary Ecosystem Initiative by the Federal Highway Administration – was initiated in 2003 to identify, prioritize, and assess wildlife movement linkages throughout Colorado. The project developed as a collaborative effort between the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project (SREP). Under this unique partnership, a FHWA grant enabled CDOT to contract with SREP for the development of a connectivity assessment in Colorado. This arrangement has facilitated CDOT’s consideration of landscape-scale permeability for wildlife while addressing the state’s transportation needs and environmental stewardship objectives.Linking Colorado’s Landscapes consisted of two phases: a statewide assessment of broad-scale wildlife linkages, and an in-depth assessment of twelve of the highest priority linkages. Now complete, the challenge for the project partners lies in integrating both the vision for a connected landscape and the more detailed recommendations into all levels of transportation development – from long range transportation plans to on-the-ground transportation projects. This paper describes the methods and opportunities for implementing the vision as well as the site-specific recommendations provided in Linking Colorado’s Landscapes

Linking Colorado’s landscapes

In partnership with the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Nature Conservancy, and Colorado State University, the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project (SREP) launched Linking Colorado’s Landscapes in fall 2003. Linking Colorado’s Landscapes is a multifaceted collaboration to promote wildlife linkages in the context of long-range planning. Phase I consisted of a statewide analysis of wildlife linkages, the objective of which was to identify broad linkage zones that facilitate movement for Colorado’s diverse array of wildlife species and to prioritize amongst them. Building upon linkage assessment methodologies used elsewhere, we developed a science-based approach integrating local and regional expertise (via a series of workshops) and computer modeling. Recognizing that connectivity is a function of individual species’ perceptions of suitable habitat and barriers in the landscape, a focal species approach was employed as the basis for linkage identification in both the workshops and the modeling. By integrating both qualitative and quantitative processes, we were able to produce a comprehensive biological assessment of the most critical wildlife linkages in the state. In total, 176 linkages were identified via expert workshops, with additional linkages modeled for Canada lynx, gray wolf, and pronghorn. In prioritizing linkages for further analysis in Phase II, we also considered: the presence of local partners; stretches of roadway with frequent animal-vehicle collisions; planned transportation projects projected by CDOT through 2030; and the distribution of linkages across the state and their complementary contributions to landscape connectivity. Twenty-three linkages were selected and were grouped into 12 high-priority linkage complexes based on similarities in species usage patterns and geography. Phase II of Linking Colorado’s Landscapes provides an in-depth assessment of each high-priority linkage. Based on this compilation of site-specific information, we will next provide recommendations for possible crossing structures, management alternatives, and other measures to improve permeability in these linkage areas. Phase II analyses include: an assessment of additional species that utilize the linkage; identification of specific crossings; an assessment of land ownership and management within the linkage; and an evaluation of existing natural or man-made features that facilitate or impair movement. The resulting linkage assessment packages and recommendations will be distributed in spring 2006 and will serve as a guide for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and other local and regional transportation planners, community leaders, and conservationists working to develop more wildlifefriendly landscapes and transportation networks

Linking Colorado’s landscapes

In partnership with the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Nature Conservancy, and Colorado State University, the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project (SREP) launched Linking Colorado’s Landscapes in fall 2003. Linking Colorado’s Landscapes is a multifaceted collaboration to promote wildlife linkages in the context of long-range planning. Phase I consisted of a statewide analysis of wildlife linkages, the objective of which was to identify broad linkage zones that facilitate movement for Colorado’s diverse array of wildlife species and to prioritize amongst them. Building upon linkage assessment methodologies used elsewhere, we developed a science-based approach integrating local and regional expertise (via a series of workshops) and computer modeling. Recognizing that connectivity is a function of individual species’ perceptions of suitable habitat and barriers in the landscape, a focal species approach was employed as the basis for linkage identification in both the workshops and the modeling. By integrating both qualitative and quantitative processes, we were able to produce a comprehensive biological assessment of the most critical wildlife linkages in the state. In total, 176 linkages were identified via expert workshops, with additional linkages modeled for Canada lynx, gray wolf, and pronghorn. In prioritizing linkages for further analysis in Phase II, we also considered: the presence of local partners; stretches of roadway with frequent animal-vehicle collisions; planned transportation projects projected by CDOT through 2030; and the distribution of linkages across the state and their complementary contributions to landscape connectivity. Twenty-three linkages were selected and were grouped into 12 high-priority linkage complexes based on similarities in species usage patterns and geography. Phase II of Linking Colorado’s Landscapes provides an in-depth assessment of each high-priority linkage. Based on this compilation of site-specific information, we will next provide recommendations for possible crossing structures, management alternatives, and other measures to improve permeability in these linkage areas. Phase II analyses include: an assessment of additional species that utilize the linkage; identification of specific crossings; an assessment of land ownership and management within the linkage; and an evaluation of existing natural or man-made features that facilitate or impair movement. The resulting linkage assessment packages and recommendations will be distributed in spring 2006 and will serve as a guide for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and other local and regional transportation planners, community leaders, and conservationists working to develop more wildlifefriendly landscapes and transportation networks

Linking Statewide Connectivity Planning to Highway Mitigation: Taking the Next Step in Linking

Statewide connectivity planning represents an important first step for informing the transportation planning process at the statewide and regional levels. However, without finer scale assessment, such broad-scale planning does not provide sufficient information for integration into project-level designs. The Linking Colorado’s Landscapes project – designated as a 2006 Exemplary Ecosystem Initiative by the Federal Highway Administration – was initiated in 2003 to identify, prioritize, and assess wildlife movement linkages throughout Colorado. The project developed as a collaborative effort between the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project (SREP). Under this unique partnership, a FHWA grant enabled CDOT to contract with SREP for the development of a connectivity assessment in Colorado. This arrangement has facilitated CDOT’s consideration of landscape-scale permeability for wildlife while addressing the state’s transportation needs and environmental stewardship objectives.Linking Colorado’s Landscapes consisted of two phases: a statewide assessment of broad-scale wildlife linkages, and an in-depth assessment of twelve of the highest priority linkages. Now complete, the challenge for the project partners lies in integrating both the vision for a connected landscape and the more detailed recommendations into all levels of transportation development – from long range transportation plans to on-the-ground transportation projects. This paper describes the methods and opportunities for implementing the vision as well as the site-specific recommendations provided in Linking Colorado’s Landscapes