Modelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation

Linking wildlife areas with corridors facilitating species dispersal between core habitats is a key intervention to reduce the deleterious effects of population isolation. Large heterogeneous networks of areas managed for wildlife protection present site- and species-scale complexity underpinning th...

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Autores principales:	Robin Lines, Dimitrios Bormpoudakis, Panteleimon Xofis, Joseph Tzanopoulos
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	KAZA Linkage Mapper MaxEnt Transfrontier Conservation Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/ba8bb56666e7411689773070b4ea74ff
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:ba8bb56666e7411689773070b4ea74ff2021-11-25T19:05:13ZModelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation10.3390/su1322128862071-1050https://doaj.org/article/ba8bb56666e7411689773070b4ea74ff2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12886https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050Linking wildlife areas with corridors facilitating species dispersal between core habitats is a key intervention to reduce the deleterious effects of population isolation. Large heterogeneous networks of areas managed for wildlife protection present site- and species-scale complexity underpinning the scope and performance of proposed corridors. In Southern Africa, the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area seeks to link Kafue National Park to a cluster of wildlife areas centered in Namibia and Botswana. To assess and identify potential linkages on the Zambian side, we generated a high-resolution land cover map and combined empirical occurrence data for Lions (<i>Panthera leo</i>), Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus</i>) and Spotted Hyena (<i>Crocuta crocuta</i>) to build habitat suitability maps. We then developed four connectivity models to map potential single and multi-species corridors between Kafue and the Zambezi River border with Namibia. Single and multi-species connectivity models selected corridors follow broadly similar pathways narrowing significantly in central-southern areas of the Kafue-Zambezi interface, indicating a potential connectivity bottleneck. Capturing the full extent of human disturbance and barriers to connectivity remains challenging, suggesting increased risk to corridor integrity than modelled here. Notwithstanding model limitations, these data provide important results for land use planners at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface, removing much speculations from existing connectivity narratives. Failure to control human disturbance and secure corridors will leave Kafue National Park, Zambia’s majority component in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, isolated.Robin LinesDimitrios BormpoudakisPanteleimon XofisJoseph TzanopoulosMDPI AGarticleKAZALinkage MapperMaxEntTransfrontier ConservationEnvironmental effects of industries and plantsTD194-195Renewable energy sourcesTJ807-830Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENSustainability, Vol 13, Iss 12886, p 12886 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	KAZA Linkage Mapper MaxEnt Transfrontier Conservation Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	KAZA Linkage Mapper MaxEnt Transfrontier Conservation Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Robin Lines Dimitrios Bormpoudakis Panteleimon Xofis Joseph Tzanopoulos Modelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation
description	Linking wildlife areas with corridors facilitating species dispersal between core habitats is a key intervention to reduce the deleterious effects of population isolation. Large heterogeneous networks of areas managed for wildlife protection present site- and species-scale complexity underpinning the scope and performance of proposed corridors. In Southern Africa, the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area seeks to link Kafue National Park to a cluster of wildlife areas centered in Namibia and Botswana. To assess and identify potential linkages on the Zambian side, we generated a high-resolution land cover map and combined empirical occurrence data for Lions (<i>Panthera leo</i>), Leopards (<i>Panthera pardus</i>) and Spotted Hyena (<i>Crocuta crocuta</i>) to build habitat suitability maps. We then developed four connectivity models to map potential single and multi-species corridors between Kafue and the Zambezi River border with Namibia. Single and multi-species connectivity models selected corridors follow broadly similar pathways narrowing significantly in central-southern areas of the Kafue-Zambezi interface, indicating a potential connectivity bottleneck. Capturing the full extent of human disturbance and barriers to connectivity remains challenging, suggesting increased risk to corridor integrity than modelled here. Notwithstanding model limitations, these data provide important results for land use planners at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface, removing much speculations from existing connectivity narratives. Failure to control human disturbance and secure corridors will leave Kafue National Park, Zambia’s majority component in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, isolated.
format	article
author	Robin Lines Dimitrios Bormpoudakis Panteleimon Xofis Joseph Tzanopoulos
author_facet	Robin Lines Dimitrios Bormpoudakis Panteleimon Xofis Joseph Tzanopoulos
author_sort	Robin Lines
title	Modelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation
title_short	Modelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation
title_full	Modelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation
title_fullStr	Modelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation
title_full_unstemmed	Modelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation
title_sort	modelling multi-species connectivity at the kafue-zambezi interface: implications for transboundary carnivore conservation
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/ba8bb56666e7411689773070b4ea74ff
work_keys_str_mv	AT robinlines modellingmultispeciesconnectivityatthekafuezambeziinterfaceimplicationsfortransboundarycarnivoreconservation AT dimitriosbormpoudakis modellingmultispeciesconnectivityatthekafuezambeziinterfaceimplicationsfortransboundarycarnivoreconservation AT panteleimonxofis modellingmultispeciesconnectivityatthekafuezambeziinterfaceimplicationsfortransboundarycarnivoreconservation AT josephtzanopoulos modellingmultispeciesconnectivityatthekafuezambeziinterfaceimplicationsfortransboundarycarnivoreconservation
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Modelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation

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