Importance of the interplay between land cover and topography in modeling habitat selection
Anthropogenic land cover change is one of the greatest threats to the persistence of organisms. Therefore, identifying and safeguarding optimal land covers for declining organisms is a major challenge of the Anthropocene. Priority land covers are typically identified through habitat selection studie...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24013530 |
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| author | Haruki Natsukawa Hiroki Yuasa Masao Fujisaki Takayuki Kobayashi Hiroyoshi Maruyama Katsuji Masukawa Kouichi Nunokawa Hitoshi Saito Ginichi Sato Luke J. Sutton Makoto Takahashi Takeshi Toba Sumio Washizawa Masafumi Yanagawa Kunihiro Yoshida Fabrizio Sergio |
| author_facet | Haruki Natsukawa Hiroki Yuasa Masao Fujisaki Takayuki Kobayashi Hiroyoshi Maruyama Katsuji Masukawa Kouichi Nunokawa Hitoshi Saito Ginichi Sato Luke J. Sutton Makoto Takahashi Takeshi Toba Sumio Washizawa Masafumi Yanagawa Kunihiro Yoshida Fabrizio Sergio |
| author_sort | Haruki Natsukawa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Anthropogenic land cover change is one of the greatest threats to the persistence of organisms. Therefore, identifying and safeguarding optimal land covers for declining organisms is a major challenge of the Anthropocene. Priority land covers are typically identified through habitat selection studies. These traditionally use land cover and/or topographic features as separate, additive predictors of organismal occurrence, despite the fact that each land cover is superimposed on specific topographic features, such as elevation or slope, which may affect its attractiveness. Here, we tested the importance of considering the largely overlooked interplay between land cover and topography, using as a model a golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos population which is sharply declining due to human-induced land cover alteration. We found that the overlay of a key land cover type (old-growth forest) on underlying terrain known to be favorable for the population (steep slopes at higher elevations than the nest) dramatically increased its attractiveness. Conversely, the matching of the same land cover with unfavorable topography (gentle slopes at lower elevations) deteriorated its attractiveness for the population. Thus, underlying topography acted as the major determinant of land cover suitability for the eagle population. The conservation implications could be profound, because modeling land cover per se could waste conservation resources on low quality sites (old-growth forest on gentle terrain at low elevations) with unlikely benefits for the threatened eagle population. We expect topographic modulators of land cover quality to be more common than previously appreciated in many or most study systems, as numerous organisms inhabiting terrestrial and aquatic environments, regardless of taxonomic group, exhibit selectivity for specific topographic features and specific land cover types. In conclusion, we encourage modelers to take more into account underlying modulators that may drive differences in quality within the same land cover. This would make wildlife-habitat models more realistic, improve their applicability, and enhance the cost-effectiveness of conservation efforts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ea1280fa8ac249ab9fff0cbdcf8dabfd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-ea1280fa8ac249ab9fff0cbdcf8dabfd2024-12-16T05:35:25ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2024-12-01169112896Importance of the interplay between land cover and topography in modeling habitat selectionHaruki Natsukawa0Hiroki Yuasa1Masao Fujisaki2Takayuki Kobayashi3Hiroyoshi Maruyama4Katsuji Masukawa5Kouichi Nunokawa6Hitoshi Saito7Ginichi Sato8Luke J. Sutton9Makoto Takahashi10Takeshi Toba11Sumio Washizawa12Masafumi Yanagawa13Kunihiro Yoshida14Fabrizio Sergio15Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan; Corresponding author.Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Kanagawa, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanRaptorLab, Ashburton, Devon, UKGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanGolden Eagle Conservation Research Group in Niigata, Niigata, JapanDepartment of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana - CSIC, Seville, SpainAnthropogenic land cover change is one of the greatest threats to the persistence of organisms. Therefore, identifying and safeguarding optimal land covers for declining organisms is a major challenge of the Anthropocene. Priority land covers are typically identified through habitat selection studies. These traditionally use land cover and/or topographic features as separate, additive predictors of organismal occurrence, despite the fact that each land cover is superimposed on specific topographic features, such as elevation or slope, which may affect its attractiveness. Here, we tested the importance of considering the largely overlooked interplay between land cover and topography, using as a model a golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos population which is sharply declining due to human-induced land cover alteration. We found that the overlay of a key land cover type (old-growth forest) on underlying terrain known to be favorable for the population (steep slopes at higher elevations than the nest) dramatically increased its attractiveness. Conversely, the matching of the same land cover with unfavorable topography (gentle slopes at lower elevations) deteriorated its attractiveness for the population. Thus, underlying topography acted as the major determinant of land cover suitability for the eagle population. The conservation implications could be profound, because modeling land cover per se could waste conservation resources on low quality sites (old-growth forest on gentle terrain at low elevations) with unlikely benefits for the threatened eagle population. We expect topographic modulators of land cover quality to be more common than previously appreciated in many or most study systems, as numerous organisms inhabiting terrestrial and aquatic environments, regardless of taxonomic group, exhibit selectivity for specific topographic features and specific land cover types. In conclusion, we encourage modelers to take more into account underlying modulators that may drive differences in quality within the same land cover. This would make wildlife-habitat models more realistic, improve their applicability, and enhance the cost-effectiveness of conservation efforts.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24013530Ecological niche modelingHabitat preferenceHabitat suitabilityLand useRemote sensingResource selection |
| spellingShingle | Haruki Natsukawa Hiroki Yuasa Masao Fujisaki Takayuki Kobayashi Hiroyoshi Maruyama Katsuji Masukawa Kouichi Nunokawa Hitoshi Saito Ginichi Sato Luke J. Sutton Makoto Takahashi Takeshi Toba Sumio Washizawa Masafumi Yanagawa Kunihiro Yoshida Fabrizio Sergio Importance of the interplay between land cover and topography in modeling habitat selection Ecological Indicators Ecological niche modeling Habitat preference Habitat suitability Land use Remote sensing Resource selection |
| title | Importance of the interplay between land cover and topography in modeling habitat selection |
| title_full | Importance of the interplay between land cover and topography in modeling habitat selection |
| title_fullStr | Importance of the interplay between land cover and topography in modeling habitat selection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Importance of the interplay between land cover and topography in modeling habitat selection |
| title_short | Importance of the interplay between land cover and topography in modeling habitat selection |
| title_sort | importance of the interplay between land cover and topography in modeling habitat selection |
| topic | Ecological niche modeling Habitat preference Habitat suitability Land use Remote sensing Resource selection |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24013530 |
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