Why Did the Bear Cross the Road? Comparing the Performance of Multiple Resistance Surfaces and Connectivity Modeling Methods

There have been few assessments of the performance of alternative resistance surfaces, and little is known about how connectivity modeling approaches differ in their ability to predict organism movements. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of four connectivity modeling approaches applied to two resistance surfaces in predicting the locations of highway crossings by American black bears in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA. We found that a resistance surface derived directly from movement data greatly outperformed a resistance surface produced from analysis of genetic differentiation, despite their heuristic similarities. Our analysis also suggested differences in the performance of different connectivity modeling approaches. Factorial least cost paths appeared to slightly outperform other methods on the movement-derived resistance surface, but had very poor performance on the resistance surface obtained from multi-model landscape genetic analysis. Cumulative resistant kernels appeared to offer the best combination of high predictive performance and sensitivity to differences in resistance surface parameterization. Our analysis highlights that even when two resistance surfaces include the same variables and have a high spatial correlation of resistance values, they may perform very differently in predicting animal movement and population connectivity.

• Publication year

  2014

• Venue

  Diversity

• Publication date

  Unknown publication date

• Fields of study

  Biology, Mathematics, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/D6040844
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Strategically Locating Wildlife Crossing Structures for Florida Panthers Using Maximal Covering Approaches

  2014cited by this paper
• Elliptical Time‐Density model to estimate wildlife utilization distributions

  2014cited by this paper
• Biological corridors and connectivity

  2013cited by this paper
• Evaluating the intersection of a regional wildlife connectivity network with highways

  2013influential reference
• Enhancing Habitat Connectivity in Fragmented Landscapes: Spatial Modeling of Wildlife Crossing Structures in Transportation Networks

  2012cited by this paper
• Estimating landscape resistance to movement: a review

  2012cited by this paper
• The Role of Landscape Connectivity in Planning and Implementing Conservation and Restoration Priorities. Issues in Ecology

  2012cited by this paper
• UNICOR: a species connectivity and corridor network simulator

  2012cited by this paper
• Evaluating the sufficiency of protected lands for maintaining wildlife population connectivity in the U.S. northern Rocky Mountains

  2012cited by this paper
• Making molehills out of mountains: landscape genetics of the Mojave desert tortoise

  2011cited by this paper
• Identifying habitat characteristics to predict highway crossing areas for black bears within a human-modified landscape

  2011cited by this paper
• Time-Geographic Density Estimation for Moving Point Objects

  2010cited by this paper
• Use of resistance surfaces for landscape genetic studies: considerations for parameterization and analysis

  2010cited by this paper
• Movement behavior explains genetic differentiation in American black bears

  2010cited by this paper
• Current State of the Art for Statistical Modelling of Species Distributions

  2010cited by this paper
• Spatial complexity, informatics, and wildlife conservation

  2010cited by this paper
• Use of Empirically Derived Source‐Destination Models to Map Regional Conservation Corridors

  2009cited by this paper
• Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: A review of 22 years of recommendations

  2009cited by this paper
• Analyzing animal movements using Brownian bridges.

  2007cited by this paper
• A Resistant‐Kernel Model of Connectivity for Amphibians that Breed in Vernal Pools

  2007cited by this paper
• Gene flow and functional connectivity in the natterjack toad

  2006cited by this paper
• Spatial Analysis: A Guide for Ecologists

  2006cited by this paper
• Gene Flow in Complex Landscapes: Testing Multiple Hypotheses with Causal Modeling

  2006influential reference
• Population Ecology in Spatially Heterogeneous Environments

  2005cited by this paper
• The application of 'least-cost' modelling as a functional landscape model

  2003cited by this paper
• Connectivity is a vital element of landscape structure

  1993cited by this paper
• Northern Rocky Mountains

  1939cited by this paper

• Species distribution modelling and landscape connectivity as tools to inform management and conservation for the critically endangered Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus) in the Deosai National Park, Pakistan

  2025cites this paper
• Can Southeast Asia's Tigers Break Free? The Connectivity, Constraints, and Recovery of the Region's Remaining Tiger Populations

  2025cites this paper
• Landscape connectivity for biodiversity conservation: a mammal-based multi-species corridor approach for the Eden to Addo corridor initiative, South Africa

  2025cites this paper
• Automized segmentation of animal paths in UAS Imagery using deep learning - a case study from the Kruger National Park

  2025cites this paper
• Assessment of habitat fragmentation for grey wolf and Persian leopard in some Iranian desert landscapes

  2025cites this paper
• Understanding Multi‐Scale and Multi‐Species Habitat Selection by Mammals in the Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot

  2025cites this paper
• Comparison of patch-based and synoptic connectivity algorithms with graph theory metrics. A case study in Reggio Calabria metropolitan area (South Italy)

  2024cites this paper
• Identifying umbrella and indicator species to support multispecies population connectivity in a Himalayan biodiversity hotspot

  2024cites this paper
• Using simulation modeling to demonstrate the performance of graph theory metrics and connectivity algorithms.

  2024cites this paper
• Validating Connectivity Models: A Synthesis

  2024cites this paper
• Simulation modelling demonstrates differential performance of connectivity methods in their ability to predict genetic diversity in complex landscapes

  2024cites this paper
• Evaluating connectivity models for conservation: insights from African lion dispersal patterns

  2023influential citation
• Modelling landscape permeability for dispersal and colonization of tigers (Panthera tigris) in the Greater Panna Landscape, Central India

  2023cites this paper
• Ecological connectivity in environmental impact assessments: modelling alternative highway bypass scenarios

  2023cites this paper
• Landscape resistance to gene flow in a snow leopard population from Qilianshan National Park, Gansu, China

  2023cites this paper
• Seventy-two models of large mammal connectivity across Panama: insights into a critical biogeographic linkage zone

  2023cites this paper
• Future land use and climate change escalate connectivity loss for Himalayan brown bears

  2022cites this paper
• Functional connectivity supported by forest conservation in urban sprawl landscape in São Paulo, Brazil

  2022cites this paper
• Landscape genetics outperforms habitat suitability in predicting landscape resistance for congeneric cat species

  2022cites this paper
• Where have all the lions gone? Establishing realistic baselines to assess decline and recovery of African lions

  2022cites this paper
• Moving beyond landscape resistance: considerations for the future of connectivity modelling and conservation science

  2022cites this paper
• Identifying connectivity for two sympatric carnivores in human-dominated landscapes in central Iran

  2022influential citation
• Synthesizing habitat connectivity analyses of a globally important human‐dominated tiger‐conservation landscape

  2022cites this paper
• Identifying core habitats and corridors of a near threatened carnivore, striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) in southwestern Iran

  2022cites this paper
• Combining multiscale niche modeling, landscape connectivity, and gap analysis to prioritize habitats for conservation of striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena)

  2022cites this paper
• Coupling spatial modeling with expert opinion approaches to restore multispecies connectivity of major transportation infrastructure

  2022cites this paper
• Integrating spatial analysis and questionnaire survey to better understand human-onager conflict in Southern Iran

  2021cites this paper
• Quantifying Landscape Degradation Following Construction of a Highway Using Landscape Metrics in Southern Iran

  2021cites this paper
• Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India

  2021cites this paper
• Landscape resistance index aiming at functional forest connectivity

  2021cites this paper
• Temporal Non-stationarity of Path-Selection Movement Models and Connectivity: An Example of African Elephants in Kruger National Park

  2021cites this paper
• En route to the North: modelling crested porcupine habitat suitability and dispersal flows across a highly anthropized area in northern Italy

  2021cites this paper
• Permeable landscapes for climate change adaptation in and around and northern Jefferson Counties

  2021cites this paper
• Deterministic, random, or in between? Inferring the randomness level of wildlife movements

  2021cites this paper
• Projected climate change threatens Himalayan brown bear habitat more than human land use

  2021cites this paper
• Identifying priority core habitats and corridors for effective conservation of brown bears in Iran

  2021cites this paper
• Effects of Human Disturbance on Brown Bear Behavior

  2020cites this paper
• Multiscale resistant kernel surfaces derived from inferred gene flow: An application with vernal pool breeding salamanders

  2020cites this paper
• Simulating the impact of Belt and Road initiative and other major developments in Myanmar on an ambassador felid, the clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa

  2020cites this paper
• Combining ensemble models and connectivity analyses to predict wolf expected dispersal routes through a lowland corridor

  2020cites this paper
• Elucidating the drivers of genetic differentiation in Malaysian torrent frogs (Anura: Ranidae: Amolops): a landscape genomics approach

  2020cites this paper
• Prioritizing habitat core areas and corridors for a large carnivore across its range

  2020cites this paper
• Reintroduction modelling: A guide to choosing and combining models for species reintroductions

  2020cites this paper
• Testing landscape resistance layers and modeling connectivity for wolverines in the western United States

  2020cites this paper
• Evaluating methods for identifying large mammal road crossing locations: black bears as a case study

  2020cites this paper
• Evaluation of the R package ‘resistancega’: A promising approach towards the accurate optimization of landscape resistance surfaces

  2020cites this paper
• Remarkable Adaptations of the American Black Bear Help Explain Why it is the Most Common Bear: A Long-Term Study from the Center of its Range

  2020cites this paper
• Ex SituConservation of Bears: Roles, Status, and Management

  2020cites this paper
• Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus)

  2020cites this paper
• Bears in Human-Modified Landscapes: The Case Studies of the Cantabrian, Apennine, and Pindos Mountains

  2020cites this paper
• Adaptations and Competitive Interactions of Tropical Asian Bear Species Define Their Biogeography: Past, Present, and Future

  2020cites this paper
• Patterns of Bear Attacks on Humans, Factors Triggering Risky Scenarios, and How to Reduce Them

  2020cites this paper
• Brown Bear (Ursus arctos; Eurasia)

  2020cites this paper
• Andean Bear (Tremarctos ornatus)

  2020cites this paper
• Human Dimensions of Asiatic Black Bear Conflicts and Management in Japan

  2020cites this paper
• Human–Bear Conflicts at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century: Patterns, Determinants, and Mitigation Measures

  2020cites this paper
• Interspecific Interactions between Brown Bears, Ungulates, and Other Large Carnivores

  2020cites this paper
• Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

  2020cites this paper
• Systematics, Evolution, and Genetics of Bears

  2020cites this paper
• Managing for Interpopulation Connectivity of the World’s Bear Species

  2020cites this paper
• The Challenge of Brown Bear Management in Hokkaido, Japan

  2020cites this paper
• Brown Bear (Ursus arctos; North America)

  2020cites this paper
• Captive Bears in Asia: Implications for Animal Welfare and Conservation

  2020cites this paper
• Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus)

  2020cites this paper
• Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus)

  2020cites this paper
• American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)

  2020cites this paper
• Ecological and Social Dimensions of Sloth Bear Conservation in Sri Lanka

  2020cites this paper
• Principles of Human–Bear Conflict Management in Challenging Environments

  2020cites this paper
• Conservation and Management of Bears

  2020cites this paper
• How Is Climate Change Affecting Polar Bears and Giant Pandas?

  2020cites this paper
• How Important Are Resistance, Dispersal Ability, Population Density and Mortality in Temporally Dynamic Simulations of Population Connectivity? A Case Study of Tigers in Southeast Asia

  2020cites this paper
• PRIORITIZING PARCELS FOR CONSERVATION EASEMENTS USING LEAST-COST PATH ANALYSES OF LAND OWNERSHIP: CASE STUDY WITHIN THEORIZED GRIZZLY BEAR MIGRATION CORRIDORS OF WESTERN MONTANA

  2020cites this paper
• Foreword

  2020cites this paper
• Mating Strategies

  2020cites this paper
• Introduction

  2020cites this paper
• Plate Section (PDF Only)

  2020cites this paper
• Contrasting use of habitat, landscape elements, and corridors by grey wolf and golden jackal in central Iran

  2019influential citation
• Integrating Transport Infrastructures with Living Landscapes

  2019cites this paper
• Integrating Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) conservation into development and restoration planning in Sabah (Borneo)

  2019cites this paper
• Assessing the complex relationship between landscape, gene flow, and range expansion of a Mediterranean carnivore

  2019cites this paper
• Predicting connectivity, population size and genetic diversity of Sunda clouded leopards across Sabah, Borneo

  2019cites this paper
• Predicting range shifts of Asian elephants under global change

  2019cites this paper
• Spatial variation in the response of tiger gene flow to landscape features and limiting factors

  2019cites this paper
• Landscape connectivity modeling from the perspective of animal dispersal

  2019cites this paper
• Accounting for Connectivity Uncertainties in Predicting Roadkills: a Comparative Approach between Path Selection Functions and Habitat Suitability Models

  2019cites this paper
• Potential Ecological Corridors for Remnant Asiatic Black Bear Populations and its Subpopulations Linked to Management Units in Japan

  2019cites this paper
• EVALUATION OF THE ADAPTIVE CAPACITY OF MOLE SALAMANDERS (AMBYSTOMATIDAE) TO A CHANGING CLIMATE IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

  2019cites this paper
• Inferring fine-scale spatial structure of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) population in the Carpathians prior to infrastructure development

  2019cites this paper
• Contrasting use of habitat, landscape elements, and corridors by grey wolf and golden jackal in central Iran

  2019cites this paper
• Linking patterns of genetic variation to processes of diversification in Malaysian torrent frogs (Anura: Ranidae: Amolops): a landscape genomics approach

  2019cites this paper
• Are all data types and connectivity models created equal? Validating common connectivity approaches with dispersal data

  2018cites this paper
• Where buffalo and cattle meet: modelling interspecific contact risk using cumulative resistant kernels

  2018cites this paper
• Simulating impacts of rapid forest loss on population size, connectivity and genetic diversity of Sunda clouded leopards (Neofelis diardi) in Borneo

  2018cites this paper
• Landscape genetics identifies streams and drainage infrastructure as dispersal corridors for an endangered wetland bird

  2018cites this paper
• Models of Coupled Settlement and Habitat Networks for Biodiversity Conservation: Conceptual Framework, Implementation and Potential Applications

  2018cites this paper
• Maintaining connectivity for tropical rainforest mammals in agricultural landscapes

  2018cites this paper
• Multispecies assessment of core areas and connectivity of desert carnivores in central Iran

  2018cites this paper
• Tiger abundance and gene flow in Central India are driven by disparate combinations of topography and land cover

  2017cites this paper
• Predicting landscape connectivity for the Asian elephant in its largest remaining subpopulation

  2017cites this paper
• All roads lead to Iran: Predicting landscape connectivity of the last stronghold for the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah

  2017cites this paper