AUTHORS: Yi Li, Bingchao Yin, Yangfan Li* – Xiamen University
ABSTRACT: The ever-increasing and unprecedented impacts of human activities on natural landscape are dramatically altering heterogeneous of habitats and biodiversity globally. In this study, we modeled the climate connectivity in China’s coastal provinces referring to three aspects of human influence (HI). The climate-gradient oriented landscape connectivity offers the first map capable of informing landscape connectivity in China’s coastal area. We demonstrate that more than 50% of coastal areas was challenged by vast influences above the average value of HI, especially in the coastal metropolitan cities. Only 24% of natural lands retained enough connectivity in 2010 to allow animals to move through temperature gradient corridors as the climate warms. Moreover, the critical junctions of pinch points and early warning points, as the stepping stones to landscape connectivity, were mainly detected in semi-natural lands (forest and grassland). Our research found that these points constrained climate connectivity; however, facilitating connections in the semi-natural lands initiates the permeability of landscape connectivity to track suitable climates. By connecting fragmented patches into a landscape network as the natural climate solution, the transition zones highlight priority locations for ecologists and conservation managers to configure the most effective areas for enhancing landscape connectivity.
Monday April 9, 2018 3:45pm - 4:00pm CDT
Spire Parlor