Modelling the empirical relationships between habitat quality and species distribution patterns is the first step to understanding human impacts on biodiversity. It is important to build on this understanding to develop a broader conceptual appreciation of the influence of surrounding landscape structure on local habitat quality, across multiple spatial scales. Traditional models which report t...

Loss of functional habitat in riverine systems is a global fisheries issue. Few studies, however, describe the decision-making approach taken to abate loss of fish spawning habitat. Numerous habitat restoration efforts are underway and documentation of successful restoration techniques for spawning habitat of desirable fish species in large rivers connecting the Laurentian Great Lakes are repor...

An example of the possible use of selected forest-stand based indicators for evaluation of conservation status was shown in case of the Natura 2000 forest habitats of Slovenia, and the potential threats to habitat types were identified. Using the existing forest-management system, and two levels of ICP Forests monitoring as sources of data on the size of habitat, tree composition, developmental...

One way that climate change will impact animal distributions is by altering habitat suitability and habitat fragmentation. Understanding the impacts of climate change on currently threatened species is of immediate importance because complex conservation planning will be required. Here, we mapped changes to the distribution, suitability, and fragmentation of giant panda habitat under climate ch...

The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of native fish in the Kakanui River, their importance, and to assess low flows for maintenance of native fish habitat. The mainstem of the river was electrofished at 13 locations from near the estuary to the headwaters 54 km upstream. Eleven native fish species were found. Eight of these were reasonably abundant and their requirements ...

The importance of positive interactions is increasingly acknowledged in contemporary ecology. Most research has focused on direct positive effects of one species on another. However, there is recent evidence that indirect positive effects in the form of facilitation cascades can also structure species abundances and biodiversity. Here we conceptualize a specific type of facilitation cascade-the...

Habitat restoration is often recommended in conservation without first evaluating whether populations are in fact habitat limited and thus whether declining populations can be stabilized or recovered through habitat restoration. We used a spatially structured demographic model coupled with a dynamic neutral landscape model to evaluate whether habitat restoration could rescue populations of seve...

Habitat fragmentation is an issue of primary concern in conservation biology. However. both the concepts of habitat and fragmentation are ill-defined and often misused. We review the habitat concept and examine differences between habitat fragmentation and habitat heterogeneity, and we suggest that habitat fragmentation is both a state (or outcome) and a process. In addition, we attempt to dist...