Rapid evaluation of metapopulation persistence in highly variegated landscapes

The loss, alteration and fragmentation of faunal habitat affects the ability of species to persist in the landscape. Effective management and reconstruction of habitat to enhance species persistence needs to be informed by organism-centric approaches to evaluating alternative habitat scenarios. Such approaches need to be founded on sound ecological theory, be capable of integrating knowledge of dynamic ecological processes with data on the distribution and quality of habitat in spatially complex landscapes, and yet be simple and efficient enough for broad application. We describe a new methodology - rapid evaluation of metapopulation persistence (REMP) - that integrates a cost-benefit approach to measuring landscape connectivity, using continuously variable (i.e. raster) habitat surfaces, with existing analytical techniques for determining the metapopulation capacity of a given landscape and for predicting occupancy patterns within this landscape. By adapting these existing techniques to work with raster data structures REMP is particularly well-suited to analysis of highly variegated landscapes. REMP produces results rapidly using best-available habitat suitability mapping and a limited set of parameters defining species movement abilities and habitat area requirements. These parameters can be estimated from expert knowledge when no empirical data are available. The approach has been successfully integrated into landscape scenario development and evaluation systems, supporting conservation planning for native fauna in NSW, Australia. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.