Landscape connectivity for Cat species: transcending structures, scales and climates

Anthropogenic pressures drive global biodiversity loss. The loss of landscape connectivity, further exacerbated by climate change, is a key driver of species decline. Hence, it is crucial to identify key elements that ensure landscape connectivity across landscapes and scales. Several challenges in this context include insufficient knowledge of 1) species’ ecophysiology across landscapes and ranges, 2) the mechanisms driving migration pulses, 3) how local-scale processes (animal movements) translate to large-scale and longer-term patterns (species’ distributions and range shifts), and consequently, 4) the spatial scale(s) at which connectivity needs to be maintained to mitigate climate change effects on species. These issues will be addressed through comparative studies across a range of landscapes and climates, using umbrella species requiring large areas.