EcoLandscape Intelligence Model for Assessing Habitat Fragmentation Impacts on Wildlife Movement Patterns

Abstract

One of the most concerning factors contributing to biodiversity reduction in terrestrial habitats is habitat fragmentation, which influences the natural dispersal patterns of wildlife. When fragmentation patches become smaller and farther from each other, there is higher dispersal difficulty, reduced gene flow, and a higher risk of extinction for certain species. The current paper presents Eco Landscape Intelligence Model, a conceptual analytical model that helps to determine the relationship between the degree of habitat fragmentation and changes in the movement patterns of wildlife based on landscape ecological data. The model takes into consideration fragmentation indices such as size of patch, edge density and connectivity index along with wildlife movement data obtained through telemetry or field observation in order to find out how landscape affects animals' movement and their utilization of wildlife corridors. Landscape data was examined in the context of a representative case of a fragmented landscape with different habitats and selected focal species. The results demonstrate a correlation between the level of fragmentation and changes in movement efficiency, corridor choice and animal behavior in general. The current paper shows that intelligence-based methods can be used to identify key corridors for wildlife and fragmentation sites that need further protection.