A multi-scale, multi-species approach for assessing effectiveness of habitat and connectivity conservation for endangered felids

Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to global biodiversity. Felids, among the many taxa experiencing population declines and range contraction around the world, are known as ecologically and politically powerful levers in conservation programs. Many felids are wide-ranging, and therefore, identifying and conserving their core habitat patches and corridors is essential for developing an umbrella strategy for protecting co-existing species. We employed a multi-scale, multi-species approach to model habitat suitability and connectivity for six felids across Iran. We identified potential core habitats and corridors of movement. We also quantified the spatial niche overlap to estimate the most important variables of habitat selection within the guild. We evaluated the effectiveness of conservation areas in conserving habitats and connectivity. Our findings revealed that each species' habitat use was influenced in a scale-dependent manner by different sets of environmental variables. Core habitats of felids were mostly located in conservation areas. We identified a number of small core habitats for most felids outside conservation areas. Maintaining corridors and stepping stone habitat patches along corridors may be needed to facilitate movement of individuals, especially between habitat remnants in unprotected areas. Our study highlights the importance of considering multiple spatial scales in management and conservation of carnivores. Our analysis shows that habitat selection and connectivity predictions are both very sensitive to scale, and incorrect scale of analysis can result in incorrect inferences that may lead to dramatically inefficient or ineffective conservation actions.