Identifying conservation priority estuaries in British Columbia with a graph-based measure of landscape connectivity

摘要: Predicting and ranking ecologically important estuaries supports estuary conservation efforts in British Columbia. Connectivity, an indicator of ecological importance, is not a component rankings created to date by conservationists. I used graph theory describe estuarine connectivity for three migratory birds: Dusky Canada Geese, Western Sandpipers, White-winged Scoters ranked based on their maintenance connectivity. developed seven metrics that quantified the importance each at local coastal scales. computed separately species. Rankings were spatially proximal across species indicated hot spots, i.e., collections highranking within restricted geographic area. Empirical observations focal spots verify model can predict stopovers. These are useful prioritizing guiding future research.