Multi-species genetic connectivity in a terrestrial habitat network

Background: Habitat fragmentation reduces genetic connectivity for multiple species, yet conservation efforts tend to rely heavily on single-species connectivity estimates to inform land-use planning. Such conservation activities may benefit from multi-species connectivity estimates, which provide a simple and practical means to mitigate the effects of habitat fragmentation for a larger number of species. To test the validity of a multi-species connectivity model, we used neutral microsatellite genetic datasets of Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), American marten (Martes americana), fisher (Pekania pennanti), and southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) to evaluate multi-species genetic connectivity across Ontario, Canada.

Results: We used linear models to compare node-based estimates of genetic connectivity for each species to point-based estimates of landscape connectivity (current density) derived from circuit theory. To our knowledge, we are the first to evaluate current density ...