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One of the most effective ways to foster the co-production of ecological knowledge by producers and users, as well as encouraging dialogue between them, is to cultivate individuals or organizations working at and managing the boundary between the two groups. Such \"boundary spanners\" are critical to ensuring scientific salience, credibility, and legitimacy, yet they remain relatively underused in ecology. We summarize some of the major roles of boundary spanners in translational ecology, and suggest that effectiveness in translating ecological information depends on several key factors. These include organizational and individual commitment to boundary spanning over the long term; development of useful, co-produced products and tools that can subsequently assume boundary-spanning roles of their own; dual-accountability frameworks that involve both science providers and users; and identification, training, and retention of science translators who possess a suite of professional skills and individual traits that are rare in scientific circles.

1. Evaluating landscape connectivity and identifying and protecting corridors for animal movement have become central challenges in applied ecology and conservation. Currently, resource selection analyses are widely used to focus corridor planning where animal movement is predicted to occur. An animal's behavioural state (e.g. foraging, dispersing) is a significant determinant of resource selection patterns, yet has largely been ignored in connectivity assessments. 2. We review 16 years of connectivity studies employing resource selection analysis to evaluate how researchers have incorporated animal behaviour into corridor planning, and highlight promising new approaches for identifying wildlife corridors. To illustrate the importance of behavioural information in such analyses, we present an empirical case study to test behaviour-specific predictions of connectivity with long-distance dispersal movements of African wild dogs Lycaon pictus. We conclude by recommending strategies for developing more realistic connectivity models for future conservation efforts. 3. Our review indicates that most connectivity studies conflate resource selection with connectivity requirements, which may result in misleading estimates of landscape resistance, and lack validation of proposed connectivity models with movement data. 4. Our case study shows that including only directed movement behaviour when measuring resource selection reveals markedly different, and more accurate, connectivity estimates than a model measuring resource selection independent of behavioural state. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results, using African wild dogs as a case study, suggest that resource selection analyses that fail to consider an animal's behavioural state may be insufficient in targeting movement pathways and corridors for protection. This failure may result in misidentification of wildlife corridors and misallocation of limited conservation resources. Our findings underscore the need for considering patterns of animal movement in appropriate behavioural contexts to ensure the effective application of resource selection analyses for corridor planning.

In conifer forests of western North America, wildlife populations can change rapidly in the decade following wildfire as trees die and animals respond to concomitant resource pulses that occur across multiple trophic levels. In particular, black-backed woodpeckers ( Picoides arcticus ) show predictable temporal increases then declines following fire; this trajectory is widely believed to be a response to the woodpeckers’ main prey, woodboring beetle larvae of the families Buprestidae and Cerambycidae, but we lack understanding of how abundances of these predators and prey may be associated in time or space. Here, we pair woodpecker surveys over 10 years with surveys of woodboring beetle sign and activity, collected at 128 survey plots across 22 recent fires, to ask whether accumulated beetle sign indicates current or past black-backed woodpecker occurrence, and whether that relationship is mediated by the number of years since fire. We test this relationship using an integrative multi-trophic occupancy model. Our results demonstrate that woodboring beetle sign is a positive indicator of woodpecker presence 1–3 years following fire, an uninformative indicator from 4–6 years after fire, and a negative indicator beginning 7 years following fire. Woodboring beetle activity, itself, is temporally variable and dependent on tree species composition, with beetle sign generally accumulating over time, particularly in stands with diverse tree communities, but decreasing over time in Pinus -dominated stands where faster bark decay rates lead to brief pulses of beetle activity followed by rapid degradation of tree substrate and accumulated beetle sign. Altogether, the strong connections of woodpecker occurrence to beetle activity support prior hypotheses of how multi-trophic interactions govern rapid temporal dynamics of primary and secondary consumers in burned forests. While our results indicate that beetle sign is, at best, a rapidly shifting and potentially misleading measure of woodpecker occurrence, the better we understand the interacting mechanisms underlying temporally dynamic systems, the more successfully we will be able to predict the outcomes of management actions.

ContextThe concept of landscape heterogeneity is central to species conservation; yet understanding the processes by which heterogeneity affects species can be challenging in practice. Complex and sometimes difficult-to-measure responses of species may reflect the outcome of life-history trade-offs shaped by different landscape properties.ObjectivesWe tested the hypothesis that a mosaic of forest stand types affected hunting and breeding success for California spotted owls (Strix occidentailis occidentalis).MethodsWe integrated high-temporal-resolution GPS tags, video monitoring of nest sites, long-term assessments of reproductive status, and high-resolution remotely sensed vegetation data in a mixed-ownership landscape in the Sierra Nevada, California to test our hypothesis.ResultsSpotted owls made shorter nocturnal movements in homogenous territories with large areas of medium-aged forest apparently because this forest type allowed direct movement paths to foraging sites. However, spotted owls delivered prey at a higher rate to nest sites when they had more forest edge in their territory, which presumably provided greater access to large-bodied woodrat (Neotoma spp.) prey. Further, spotted owl reproductive output was relatively high in heterogenous territories containing a mix of mature and open forest.ConclusionsThe benefits heterogenous forests provide to hunting success appeared to outweigh costs associated with additional commuting distance to foraging sites and provided potential fitness benefits to spotted owls. We suggest that the effects of landscape heterogeneity can vary not only among, but also within, species and can reflect the outcome of trade-offs among different life history activities. Understanding the effects of landscape properties on biological communities will benefit from additional empirical and mechanistic studies of individual species.

Refugia have long been studied from paleontological and biogeographical perspectives to understand how populations persisted during past periods of unfavorable climate. Recently, researchers have applied the idea to contemporary landscapes to identify climate change refugia, here defined as areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that enable persistence of valued physical, ecological, and socio-cultural resources. We differentiate historical and contemporary views, and characterize physical and ecological processes that create and maintain climate change refugia. We then delineate how refugia can fit into existing decision support frameworks for climate adaptation and describe seven steps for managing them. Finally, we identify challenges and opportunities for operationalizing the concept of climate change refugia. Managing climate change refugia can be an important option for conservation in the face of ongoing climate change.

Vocal territory defense can vary within a species due to many factors such as sex and breeding status, influencing territory size and thus population density across a landscape. Therefore, understanding what influences variation in territorial vocalizations can help to illuminate trade‐offs between territoriality and other life history demands, which benefits our general understanding of animal ecology as well as helps to inform emerging passive acoustic monitoring approaches. Here, we investigated how sex and breeding status affected territoriality and vocal behavior in the California spotted owl Strix occidentalis occidentalis in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA, using high‐resolution acoustic/GPS tags. We discovered that territorial vocal behavior was related to breeding status and to a lesser extent sex. Breeding owls with fledged young had a less diverse vocal repertoire, produced fewer and quieter territorial calls, and typically called only when close to their nest. Males were also more likely to engage in territorial calling than females. Breeding spotted owls also maintained significantly smaller territories – but utilized larger home ranges – than non‐breeding individuals. Our results suggest that breeding spotted owls may reduce their investment in territorial behaviors to mitigate the demands and risks associated with rearing young. Further, our results have important implications for the passive acoustic monitoring of spotted owls and, more broadly, highlight the utility of using multiple call types to detect species of interest.

Aim: The critically endangered Cross River gorilla is a patchily distributed taxon for which habitat selection has been modelled only at coarse spatial scales, using remotely sensed landscape data and large-scale species distribution maps. These coarse-scale models fail to explain why Cross River gorillas (CRG) display a highly fragmented distribution within what appears to be a large, continuous area of suitable habitat. This study aimed to refine our understanding of CRG habitat use to inform conservation planning both for the subspecies and for other fragmented species of conservation concern. Location: Cross River gorillas occur only in a discontinuous distribution in the southern portion of the Cameroon-Nigeria border region, an area that represents one of Africa's biodiversity hotspots. This study was carried out in the Northern Mone-Mt. Oko region, part of the Mone/Mbulu forest system located in the Manyu division of the South-west Province of Cameroon. Methods: We used resource selection functions to understand habitat use by CRG at multiple scales. Specifically, we employed generalized additive models at the scale of the annual subpopulation range and conditional logistic regression at the scale of individual movements. Results: Cross River gorillas habitat selection is highly scale dependent. Localized measures of habitat quality strongly influenced selection at the subpopulation or landscape scale, while human activity and food availability were the best predictors of selection at finer scales. Main conclusions: Understanding why CRG do not occur in seemingly suitable habitat is crucial for designating critical habitat both within and between CRG subpopulations. Our results indicate that conservation planning to maintain critical habitat and connectivity among CRG populations will require an integrative, multi-scale planning approach incorporating large-scale landscape characteristics, human use patterns and CRG food availability.

Mountain ecosystems contain strong elevational gradients in climate and vegetation that shape species distributions and the structure of animal communities. Nevertheless, studies of habitat selection for individual species rarely account for such gradients that often result in species being managed uniformly across their range, which may not improve conservation as intended. Therefore, we characterized variation in nocturnal habitat selection by 18 GPS‐tagged California spotted owls (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) along a 1400‐m elevational gradient in the Sierra Nevada, California. We characterized three‐dimensional forest structure with light detection and ranging data that we used in mixed‐effects resource‐ and step‐selection analyses of owl habitat selection. At lower elevations, owls selected stands with shorter trees, sites closer to hard edges between tall forests and open areas, sites with less diversity in forest seral types and sites with more ridge and southwest aspects. In contrast, owls at higher elevations selected the opposite. Within public forests that had taller trees and within their home range core (45% kernel density estimate of GPS points) areas, owls selected forests with less and more canopy cover at low and high elevations, respectively. Outside of their core areas, owls selected areas with fewer and more tall trees at low and high elevations, respectively. These findings may be explained by elevational gradients in prey distribution and variation in owl diet because owls consume more woodrats (Neotoma spp; earlier seral species) at lower elevations and more flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus; older forest species) at higher elevations. Thus, at low elevations and in areas unlikely to support nesting, spotted owls could benefit from management that promotes woodrat habitat by encouraging oak regeneration and creating small brushy openings within forests with shorter (younger) trees. Conversely, at higher elevations, (1) enhancing flying squirrel habitat by promoting large trees and denser canopy on mesic sites and (2) managing for greater cover type diversity on southwest‐facing slopes and ridgetops is more likely to improve foraging habitat quality for spotted owls. The patterns of owl selection over elevational gradients has not been explicitly considered in most habitat management plans but clearly would improve management throughout mountain ecosystems.

1. The need to conserve and create linkages among fragmented habitats has given rise to a range of techniques for maximizing connectivity. Methods to identify optimal habitat linkages face trade-offs between constraints on model inputs and biological relevance of model outputs. Given the popularity of these methods and their central role in landscape planning, it is critical that they be reliable and robust. 2. The most popular method used to inform habitat linkage design, least-cost path (LCP) analysis, designates a landscape resistance surface based on hypothetical 'costs' that landscape components impose on species movement, and identifies paths that minimize cumulative costs between locations. 3. While LCP analysis represents a valuable method for conservation planning, its current application has several weaknesses. Here, we review LCP analysis and identify shortcomings of its current application that decrease biological relevance and conservation utility. We examine trends in published LCP analyses, demonstrate the implications of methodological choices with our own LCP analysis for bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis nelsoni, and point to future directions in cost modelling. 4. Our review highlights three weaknesses common in recent LCP analyses. First, LCP models typically rely on remotely sensed habitat maps, but few studies assess whether such maps are suitable proxies for factors affecting animal movement or consider the effects of adjacent habitats. Secondly, many studies use expert opinion to assign costs associated with landscape features, yet few validate these costs with empirical data or assess model sensitivity to errors in cost assignment. Thirdly, studies that consider multiple, alternative movement paths often propose width or length requirements for linkages without justification. 5. Synthesis and applications. LCP modelling and similar approaches to linkage design guide connectivity planning, yet often lack a biological or empirical foundation. Ecologists must clarify the biological processes on which resistance values are based, explicitly justify cost schemes and scale (grain) of analysis, evaluate the effects of landscape context and sensitivity to cost schemes, and strive to optimize cost schemes with empirical data. Research relating species' fine-grain habitat use to movement across broad extents is desperately needed, as are methods to determine biologically relevant length and width restrictions for linkages.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159909.].