Identifying suitable habitat and movement corridors for endangered salamanders on Pelee Island, Lightning Talk (7 min)

London, Ontario

Habitat loss has caused a severe decline in amphibian populations globally. Pelee Island, Ontario is home to at-risk populations of Small-mouthed Salamanders (A. texanum) and Unisexual Ambystoma (Small-mouthed Salamander dependent population). We assessed salamander habitat suitability (using MaxEnt) and connectivity (using Circuitscape) across the island, working with the Spatial Analyst and Data Management toolkits to create and analyze rasters and shapefiles. The Linkage Mapper toolkit was also added to identify habitat corridors. Ultimately, we found that these populations are not well connected and there is a limited range of suitable habitat conditions. Based on these findings, the protection and enhancement of habitat to create dispersal corridors should be prioritized by conservation groups.

https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/wlgisday/2020/lighteningtalks/7