Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
82 <br /> Appendix B: Glossary <br /> Connectivity(landscape connectivity,landscape permeability): The degree to which the landscape <br /> facilitates or impedes movement of organisms or processes (Wade et al. 2015). The extent to which a <br /> species or population can move among landscape elements in a mosaic of habitats. This necessitates <br /> linkages among individuals, species, communities, and ecosystems at appropriate spatial and temporal <br /> scales. Corridors are one means of achieving connectivity. (Hilty et al. 2006)A measure of the ability of <br /> organisms, gametes, and propagules to move among separated patches of suitable habitat. Ideally, <br /> corridors serve to facilitate connectivity over time and can operate at a range of spatial scales. (Hilty et al. <br /> 2019) <br /> Conservation planning: The process that occurs when a group of stakeholders consider the status of an <br /> area's natural environment and identify goals and strategies for conserving the area's natural heritage and <br /> biological diversity(NCWRC 2013). <br /> Conservation threshold: The minimum level of any characteristic of a species' habitat that is needed in <br /> order for local populations to persist over time(NCWRC 2012). <br /> Corridor(landscape,habitat,or wildlife corridor): Avenues along which wide-ranging animals can <br /> travel,plants can propagate, genetic interchange can occur,populations can move in response to <br /> environmental changes and natural disasters, and threatened species can be replenished from other areas <br /> (The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals 1997 in Walker and Craighead 1997). Any space that facilitates <br /> the movement of populations, individuals, gametes or propagules, and plant parts capable of vegetative <br /> reproduction in a matter of minutes,hours, or over multiple generations of a species. Corridors may <br /> encompass altered or natural areas of vegetation and provide connectivity that allows biota to spread or <br /> move among habitat fragments through areas otherwise devoid of preferred habitat. Landscape elements <br /> that function as corridors may also serve multiple other purposes,providing aesthetic amenities, <br /> ecosystem service values, cultural heritage protection, and recreational opportunities. (Hilty et al. 2019) <br /> Cost surface(resistance surface): A mapped surface representing the degree to which some landscape <br /> feature impedes or facilitates some movement process,typically represented as a cell(pixel)value in a <br /> grid(raster)within a GIS. Corridors are then modeled in areas with lowest resistance to the movement <br /> process considered. The models are relatively easy to apply given existing data, and the approach offers <br /> the flexibility to develop models ranging from simple to complex,tailored to the specific conservation <br /> needs, and able to be refined as better data become available.A resistance surface is conceptually related <br /> to the idea of travel costs from behavioral ecology, and can therefore be designed to integrate ecological <br /> concepts important to successful wildlife movement, such as an organism's perceptual range and <br /> susceptibility to competition and predation. Resistance-surface connectivity modeling assumes a <br /> relationship between surficial proxy measures (such as habitat type or quality) and ease of animal <br /> movement. It is important that resistance surfaces be considered hypotheses reflecting a solid <br /> consideration of causal biology. (Wade et al. 2015) <br /> Dispersal: Movements that occur within the lifetime of the individual, as, for example, when it leaves its <br /> natal site(NCWRC 2015). <br /> Ecological integrity: A system's wholeness, including presence of all appropriate elements and <br /> occurrence of all processes at appropriate rates,that is able to maintain itself through time (ELI 2003). <br /> The ability of an ecological system to support and maintain a community of organisms that has a species <br /> composition, diversity, and functional organization comparable to those of natural habitats within a <br /> region. An ecological system has integrity, or a species population is viable,when its dominant ecological <br /> characteristics (such as elements of composition, structure, function, and ecological processes) occur <br /> within their natural ranges of variation and can withstand and recover from most perturbations imposed <br /> by natural environmental dynamics or human disruptions(Parrish et al. 2003). <br /> Appendix B: Glossary 1 <br />