Modeling of functional connectivity for bees in heterogeneous landscapes of Atlantic Forest

Abstract

The increasing process of anthropization has altered landscapes, leading to fragmentation of natural environments and the reduction of available habitat with serious consequences for biodiversity. The mosaic of environments in which the individuals are inserted, as well as landscape configuration and composition directly affect organism's movement. Landscape structure may alter individual's flow depending on the quality and arrangement of these environments, influencing the connectivity of the landscape. Understanding functional connectivity in altered landscapes is fundamental to developing efficient management and conservation of biodiversity as well as of ecological services, such as pollination. Our objective is to analyze functional connectivity in heterogeneous landscapes for different bee profiles. For connectivity analysis we will use least cost path modeling (LCP) in LSCorridors software. The modeling will be done in 30 real landscapes between Cantareira and Mantiqueira region on São Paulo. These areas were previously selected for the international cooperation project "Ecosystem resilience in the fragmented Atlantic Forest of Brazil" (Fapesp process 2014/ 50971- 5). The data analysis will be done using as an explanatory variable the landscape structure measures related to heterogeneity, such as: composition and configuration metrics and as response variable will be landscape functional connectivity index (ICF). (AU)