Exploring structural and functional corridors for wild sheep (Ovis orientalis) in a semi-arid area

Although corridors have been the subject of extensive research in the recent years, the probable correlation between structural and functional corridors have not been addressed to date. To fill this scientific gap, we compared structural and functional corridors of wild sheep (Ovis orientalis) as a threatened species in a semi-arid area of central Iran. We first used Maximum-Entropy to develop wild sheep habitat suitability map. We then used Morphological-Spatial-Pattern-Analysis (MSPA) and circuit theory to map structural and functional corridors of wild sheep respectively. Bootstrapping techniques then were used to compare structural and functional corridors. We found that structural corridor is a concept which is dependent on the scale of observation. By changing edge-width from 600 to 1200 m, the total area of structural corridors increased by 63%. We also only found very small differences in the functional connectivity role of different MSPA categories (including structural corridors). All MSPA categories together accounted for only 20% of the functional connectivity. Although, in some cases functional corridors had a better performance in showing migration path of wild sheep between reserves, other cases showed that for effective conservation, both structural and functional corridors should be identified and considered in the planning step.