Least-cost path analysis for urban greenways planning: a test with moths and birds across two habitats and two cities.
Abstract
This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of Least-cost path analysis (LCP) in modelling functional corridors in France. For both moths and passerine birds, movement patterns differed between the two connectivity contexts: moth recapture rates were higher in highly connecting contexts than in less connecting contexts. For passerine birds, responses to playback recalls were faster and movement distance longer in highly connecting contexts. All results support the hypothesis that both taxa were more prone to move in corridors modelled by LCP. It also shows that movements were reduced but not null in the urban matrix, suggesting that the urban matrix permeability, even if low, should be taken into account in connectivity models interpretations and in urban planning.