A new set of maps highlights the importance of habitat corridors in helping wildlife deal with the effects of climate change and deforestation. The series of maps shows more than 16,000 habitat corridors — swaths of land that connect forests or protected areas and allow animals to move between them — in tropical regions of Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America.
High-resolution data on biodiversity, endemism, and vegetation density allowed the researchers, led by Patrick Jantz of the Woods Hole Research Center, to determine which corridors are most important for maintaining biodiversity under changing climate conditions. The maps also highlight which corridors are most important for sequestering carbon and averting carbon emissions associated with deforestation.
Researchers hope the findings will help guide wildlife protection plans and serve as a framework prioritizing the conservation of habitat corridors. Maintaining forest connectivity provides “room for ecosystems to reorganize in response to climate change and protect[s] ecosystem services that people depend on,” said Jantz.
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.
