A comparison-shopper's guide to connectivity metrics

Connectivity is an important but inconsistently defined concept in spatial ecology and conservation biology. Theoreticians from various subdisciplines of ecology argue over its definition and measurement, but no consensus has yet emerged. Despite this disagreement, measuring connectivity is an integral part of many resource management plans. A more practical approach to understanding the many connectivity metrics is needed. Instead of focusing on theoretical issues surrounding the concept of connectivity, we describe a data-dependent framework for classifying these metrics. This framework illustrates the data requirements, spatial scales, and information yields of a range of different connectivity measures. By…