The Wilderness Society, Anchorage, Alaska, 99501, USA.
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network, National Park Service, Fairbanks, Alaska, 99709, USA.
Ecol Appl. 2021 Jan;31(1):e2207. doi: 10.1002/eap.2207. Epub 2020 Aug 18.
Migration is common worldwide as species access spatiotemporally varying resources and avoid predators and parasites. However, long-distance migrations are increasingly imperiled due to development and habitat fragmentation. Improved understanding of migratory behavior has implications for conservation and management of migratory species, allowing identification and protection of seasonal ranges and migration corridors. We present a technique that applies circuit theory to predict future effects of development by analyzing season-specific resistance to movement from anthropogenic and natural environmental features across an entire migratory path. We demonstrate the utility of our approach by examining potential effects of a proposed road system on barren ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) and subsistence hunters in northern Alaska. Resource selection functions revealed migratory selection by caribou. We tested five scenarios relating habitat selection to landscape resistance using Circuitscape and GPS telemetry data. To examine the effect of potential roads on connectivity of migrating animals and human hunters, we compared current flow values near communities in the presence of proposed roads. Caribou avoided dense vegetation, rugged terrain, major rivers, and existing roads in both spring and fall. A negative linear relationship between resource selection and landscape resistance was strongly supported for fall migration while spring migration featured a negative logarithmic relationship. Overall patterns of caribou connectivity remained similar in the presence of proposed roads, though reduced current flow was predicted for communities near the center of current migration areas. Such data can inform decisions to allow or disallow projects or to select among alternative development proposals and mitigation measures, though consideration of cumulative effects of development is needed. Our approach is flexible and can easily be adapted to other species, locations and development scenarios to expand understanding of movement behavior and to evaluate proposed developments. Such information is vital to inform policy decisions that balance new development, resource user needs, and preservation of ecosystem function.
迁移在全球范围内很常见，因为物种可以利用时空变化的资源并避免捕食者和寄生虫。然而，由于发展和栖息地破碎化，长距离迁移越来越受到威胁。对迁移行为的深入了解对于保护和管理迁移物种具有重要意义，可以确定和保护季节性活动范围和迁移走廊。我们提出了一种应用电路理论的技术，通过分析整个迁移路径上人为和自然环境特征对季节性运动的特定阻力，来预测未来发展的影响。我们通过检查阿拉斯加北部拟议道路系统对贫瘠地面驯鹿（Rangifer tarandus granti）和以狩猎为生的居民的潜在影响，展示了该方法的实用性。资源选择函数揭示了驯鹿的迁移选择。我们使用 Circuitscape 和 GPS 遥测数据测试了与景观阻力相关的五种栖息地选择情况。为了研究潜在道路对迁移动物和人类猎人连通性的影响，我们比较了存在拟议道路时社区附近的当前流量值。在春季和秋季，驯鹿都避开了茂密的植被、崎岖的地形、主要河流和现有的道路。秋季迁移时，资源选择与景观阻力之间的负线性关系得到了强有力的支持，而春季迁移时则呈现出负对数关系。尽管预测在当前迁移区域中心附近的社区中，当前流量会减少，但在存在拟议道路的情况下，驯鹿的连通性总体模式仍然相似。这样的数据可以为允许或不允许项目、选择替代发展方案和缓解措施提供决策依据，尽管需要考虑发展的累积效应。我们的方法具有灵活性，可以轻松应用于其他物种、地点和发展情景，以扩大对运动行为的理解，并评估拟议的开发项目。这种信息对于制定平衡新发展、资源使用者需求和保护生态系统功能的政策决策至关重要。
