Investigations of landscape factors and patterns mediating migration and population genetic differentiation are fundamental for knowledge-based conservation. Smaller amphibian populations may lose more genetic diversity, and become more dependent on immigration for survival.
The present results are actively used by the regional council and municipalities in the region of Uusimaa.Īmong vertebrates, amphibians currently have the highest proportion of threatened species worldwide, mainly through loss of habitat, leading to increased population isolation. Methods described here can be applied in any location where relevant spatial data are available. Restoration should be considered for connectivity bottlenecks. Land conversion should be avoided in areas of highest ecological priorities and network-level connectivity. Highest restoration needs were found between large high-priority sites that are connected via remnant habitat fragments in comparatively highly modified areas. We found seven large ecological networks (132–1201 km²) which stand out from their surrounding landscape in terms of ecological value and have clear connectivity bottlenecks between them. Furthermore, we identified candidate sites for habitat restoration. We also identified ecological corridors between protected areas and other ecologically high-priority areas using the corridor retention method of Zonation. We identified ecological networks based on a combination of a Zonation balanced priority ranking map and a weighted range size rarity map, to account for both relative and absolute conservation values in the process. Input data were 59 high-quality layers of biotope and species distribution data. We applied SCP to the identification of ecological networks to inform the development of a new regional plan for the region of Uusimaa (South-Finland, including the Finnish capital district). In addition to occurrences of species and habitats inside protected area candidate sites, one may also be interested about network-level connectivity considerations. Spatial conservation prioritization (SCP) has most often been applied to the design of reserve network expansion. Considering the function of landscape structures across the boundary-corridor continuum will provide researchers and managers with a more complete, holistic viewpoint and will allow better strategies to attain conservation goals. We predict which structures will act as boundaries or corridors and at what spatial and temporal scales they are likely to be relevant. We discuss boundaries and corridors in terms of mover specificity, scale, and effects on different levels of ecological organization, using rivers and streams to illustrate our points. The position of landscape structures along this permeability gradient depends on attributes of both the flow and of the structure itself. Corridors and boundaries exist at opposite ends of a permeability gradient, differing in their effects on rates and direction of flow.
This approach, however, misses a fundamental aspect they have in common: their strong influence on ecological flows. The trend in ecological literature is to treat corridors and boundaries as separate phenomena on the landscape. Landscape boundaries and corridors are areas of small spatial extent relative to their large effects on ecological flou's.