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Type: Masters Coursework thesis × Start date: 2001 × End date: 2009 × Subject: Wildlife conservation × Author: Mullerworth, Daniel ×

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    Design for persistence: graph-based connectivity, habitat reserves and species persistence
    Mullerworth, Daniel ( 2007)
    Connectivity is widely thought to play a key role in the persistence of metapopulations. However, there is no generally accepted approach to measuring connectivity in landscapes. Current reserve selection algorithms tend to focus on clustering habitat sites as an approach to maximising connectivity. An alternative approach to understanding connectivity is, however, to focus on the spatial configuration of habitat patches in a landscape. In this study, graph methods are used to represent habitat networks and investigate the relationship between spatial configuration and the flow of species moving across the network. Betweenness Centrality, a graph metric designed to measure the proportion of traffic passing through any node in a network, is applied in modified form as a reserve selection algorithm. The performance of reserves selected using Betweenness Centrality is assessed against species persistence measures from the metapopulation model RAMAS and compared to equivalent reserve selections for other well known reserve selection algorithms. Within the limited set of cases considered, this study found that Betweenness Centrality has a high degree of success in designing reserves for species with high dispersal characteristics, but is unable to predict appropriate reserve sites for low or non-dispersing species. Further directions for research in the field are suggested, with an emphasis on rigorously validating this type of approach to understanding connectivity.