Detecting Stepping-Stones for Connectivity Planning in Local-Regional Scale

Abstract

Habitat detection for local and regional connectivity planning is essential for the conservation of biodiversity, especially in a variety of different types of land use, such as in the Atlantic Forest. This article presents a model based on the use of landscape metrics and features of the physical environment, with procedures based on AHP, use of matrix cost and spatial analysis for the selection of forest fragments that can act as stepping stones. This modeling can be performed for different scenarios of species movement in the landscape, and the planning can be directed according to a management proposal in relation to the behavior of the target species to be conserved.