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Cited by 159Wildlife-Road Interactions and ConservationLand Use and Ecosystem ServicesWildlife Ecology and Conservation

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 63 of the 64 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 4 of the 38 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Applying Circuit Theory for Corridor Expansion and Management at Regional Scales: Tiling, Pinch Points, and Omnidirectional Connectivity

Open access
Pelletier, David, Clark, Melissa, Anderson, Mark G., Rayfield, Bronwyn, Wulder, Michael A., Cardille, Jeffrey A.·2014·PLOS One
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0084135PMC PMC3907452
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Abstract

Connectivity models are useful tools that improve the ability of researchers and managers to plan land use for conservation and preservation. Most connectivity models function in a point-to-point or patch-to-patch fashion, limiting their use for assessing connectivity over very large areas. In large or highly fragmented systems, there may be so many habitat patches of interest that assessing connectivity among all possible combinations is prohibitive. To overcome these conceptual and practical limitations, we hypothesized that minor adaptation of the Circuitscape model can allow the creation of omnidirectional connectivity maps illustrating flow paths and variations in the ease of travel across a large study area. We tested this hypothesis in a 24,300 km(2) study area centered on the Montérégie region near Montréal, Québec. We executed the circuit model in overlapping tiles covering the study region. Current was passed across the surface of each tile in orthogonal directions, and then the tiles were reassembled to create directional and omnidirectional maps of connectivity. The resulting mosaics provide a continuous view of connectivity in the entire study area at the full original resolution. We quantified differences between mosaics created using different tile and buffer sizes and developed a measure of the prominence of seams in mosaics formed with this approach. The mosaics clearly show variations in current flow driven by subtle aspects of landscape composition and configuration. Shown prominently in mosaics are pinch points, narrow corridors where organisms appear to be required to traverse when moving through the landscape. Using modest computational resources, these continuous, fine-scale maps of nearly unlimited size allow the identification of movement paths and barriers that affect connectivity. This effort develops a powerful new application of circuit models by pinpointing areas of importance for conservation, broadening the potential for addressing intriguing questions about resource use, animal distribution, and movement.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

The authors adapt Circuitscape to create omnidirectional connectivity mosaics over large regions by running circuit models in overlapping tiles and reassembling them. In a 24,300 km² Montérégie study area, larger tile and buffer sizes reduced seam prominence while mosaics remained broadly similar, revealing pinch points and current shadows useful for corridor planning.

Key findings

  • Omnidirectional mosaics were produced by multiplying east-west and north-south directional current density mosaics; two oblique orientations and blending did not discernibly affect spatial patterns.
  • Seam prominence decreased significantly with larger tile size (F = 62.77, DFn = 2, DFd = 78, p = 5.67E-17) and larger buffer size (F = 122.06, DFn = 3, DFd = 117, p = 7.06E-36); the interaction was not significant (p = 5.41E-02).
  • Mosaics from different tile/buffer choices were quite similar per-pixel; the most similar to the best mosaic used 500×500 tiles with 200% buffer, or 1000×1000 tiles with 75%, 50%, or 100% buffer.
  • High-resistance urban areas cast “current shadows,” forest current density varied substantially, and high current in non-forest areas indicated potential locations for corridor expansion.

Methods

  • Study area was 24,300 km² centered on the Montérégie near Montréal, Québec; 30 m SIEF land cover was reclassified into forest, vegetated forest edge, vegetated open areas, and non-vegetated open areas, with resistance values from Desrochers et al. for ovenbirds: 1, 14, 27, and 100.
  • Overlapping square tiles with buffers were processed in Circuitscape using pairwise runs with thin parallel strips on opposing sides for east-west/west-east and north-south/south-north directions; buffers were cropped, directional mosaics reassembled, and the two directional mosaics multiplied into an omnidirectional mosaic.
  • A full 3 by 4 factorial design varied tile and buffer sizes; seam prominence was measured as Euclidean difference along seams, analyzed with two-way repeated-measures ANOVA, and mosaics were compared per-pixel after log10 transformation and stretching to 0–255.

Limitations

  • Stated: a digital connectivity value does not imply certainty of where an organism will travel; it remains to be seen whether omnidirectional mosaics fit animal movement data at short time scales; and there are no clear guidelines for systematically determining pinch points or a reliable current threshold.
  • Stated: processing 5000×5000-pixel calculation areas demanded substantial memory, and increasing buffer size or decreasing tile size increases processing cost, number of tiles, or both.
  • Evident: resistance values are parameterized for one species (ovenbird) from translocation data, and this study does not validate the mosaics against movement observations; the Montérégie results are presented as an illustration rather than empirical validation.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0084135

Cites

63 of 63 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

4 of 38 cited sources checked · 2 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

  • Premisecitation

    Biotic movements of genes, individuals, or populations through a network of forest patches may be critical for the maintenance of ecological and evolutionary processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales.

    “Biotic movements of genes, individuals, or populations through a network of forest patches may be critical for the maintenance of ecological and evolutionary processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [7] Bissonette JA (2007) Resource acquisition and animal response in dynamic landscapes: Keeping the books. In: Bissonette JA, Storch I, editors. Temporal Dimensions of Landscape Ecology: Wildlife Responses to Variable Resources. New York and Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. 13–29. source
    • cites [8] K Johst, 2002, Metapopulation persistence in dynamic landscapes: the role of dispersal distance, Oikos source
    • cites [9] MB McEachern, 2011, Bottlenecks and rescue effects in a fluctuating population of golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis), Conservation Genetics source

      The Conclusions and conservation implications section says immigration and gene flow within a regional metapopulation are critical to long-term viability and that connectivity matters. But the Study site and species section describes squirrels occupying meadows and avoiding forests; the paper does not establish movement through a network of forest patches or maintenance of processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Findingown data

    The omnidirectional connectivity mosaic illustrates current flow through each pixel of the map in multiple directions given the arrangement of land-cover resistance values.

    “The omnidirectional connectivity mosaic (Figure 4) illustrates the current flow, given the arrangement of land-cover resistance values, through each pixel of the map in multiple directions.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data

    The choice of orientation angle when creating tiles produced no discernable difference in the resulting current density mosaics.

    “The choice of which orientation angle to use when creating tiles for the study area produced no discernable difference in the resulting current density mosaics (Appendix S2).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Our prototype analysis produces a quantitative mapping of core habitat areas and possible movement pathways through the landscape.

    “Our prototype analysis produces a quantitative mapping of core habitat areas and possible movement pathways through the landscape.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Using either of two other orientations, as well as incorporating other orientations into a mosaic by blending with tiling in cardinal directions, did not discernibly affect spatial patterns on the current density mosaic.

    “Using either of two other orientations, as well as incorporating the other orientations into a mosaic by blending it with tiling in the cardinal directions, did not discernibly affect the spatial patterns seen on the current density mosaic.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 19
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 18

  • Probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Animals are well known to dwell in or pass through non-optimal habitat.

    “animals are well known to dwell in or pass through non-optimal habitat [54], [55]”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [54] T Tscharntke, 2012, Landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns and processes - eight hypotheses, Biological Reviews source
    • cites [55] P Beier, 1992, A checklist for evaluating impacts to wildlife movement corridors, Wildlife Society Bulletin

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    These strategies are in active development and include the detection of barriers that impede movement.

    “These strategies are in active development [57]–[59], and include the detection of barriers that impede movement [56].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 4 sources checked
    • cites [57] SA Cushman, 2012, Evaluating the sufficiency of protected lands for maintaining wildlife population connectivity in the U.S. northern Rocky Mountains, Diversity and Distributions source
    • cites [58] NE Heller, 2009, Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: A review of 22 years of recommendations, Biological Conservation source
    • cites [59] BW Compton, 2007, A resistant-kernel model of connectivity for amphibians that breed in vernal pools, Conservation Biology source
    • cites [56] BH McRae, 2012, Where to restore ecological connectivity? Detecting barriers and quantifying restoration benefits, PLoS ONE source

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Premisecitation

    Across long time scales at which genetic mutations can be measured, resistance distance is strongly correlated to the differences between populations.

    “It has already been demonstrated that across long time scales at which genetic mutations can be measured, resistance distance is strongly correlated to the differences between populations [28], [29], [42].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [28] BH McRae, 2008, Using circuit theory to model connectivity in ecology, evolution, and conservation, Ecology source
    • cites [29] BH McRae, 2007, Circuit theory predicts gene flow in plant and animal populations, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America source

      The Results tables report strong correlations between resistance distance and genetic differentiation in mahogany and wolverine populations (R² = 0.68–0.85 across the listed measures). The paper discusses gene flow over many generations, but does not establish the claim’s specific time-scale qualifier—that these are long time scales at which genetic mutations can be measured. (LLM, conf=0.85)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • cites [42] SF Spear, 2010, Use of resistance surfaces for landscape genetic studies: considerations for parameterization and analysis, Molecular Ecology source

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingreasoning

    The omnidirectional connectivity mosaic both blends and enhances shadowing effects in its representation of connectivity in all directions.

    “The omnidirectional connectivity mosaic (Figure 5b) both blends and enhances these shadowing effects in its representation of connectivity in all directions.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    Using either a larger tile size or larger buffer to create the Circuitscape calculation area produces mosaics with less prominent seams; prominent seams can be greatly reduced by increasing tile size or buffer size.

    “Using either a larger tile size or larger buffer to create the Circuitscape calculation area served to produce mosaics with less prominent seams.”
    • Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
      “Prominent seams, which in our opinion are detrimental to the assembly of these tiles into mosaics, can be greatly reduced by increasing the tile size or the buffer size used to create the Circuitscape calculation area.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingreasoning

    In the city located in the northeast part of the image in east-west directional flow, the shadow is larger than the city itself and visible well beyond the city's pixel limits.

    “For example, in the city located in the northeast part of the image in the east-west directional flow (Figure 5c), the shadow is larger than the city itself and visible well beyond the city’s pixel limits.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    Tile size and buffer size choices used to create the calculation area affect seam prominence in predictable ways; seam prominence is highly dependent on these choices.

    “The choices of tile size and buffer size used to create the calculation area affected the prominence of seams in strongly predictable ways (Table 1).”
    • Also stated in: § Conclusion · boosted
      “Seam prominence is highly dependent on choices of tile size and buffer size.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    The strength of tile size and buffer size effects on seam prominence is of the same order of magnitude, and both can contribute substantially to reducing seam prominence.

    “The strength of each factor is of the same order of magnitude (Table 1), meaning that both factors can contribute substantially to reducing seam prominence.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingreasoning

    In general, current density is highest in forest pixels, indicating that given the resistance values and spatial configuration of land covers, current flows through forest whenever possible.

    “In general, current density is highest in forest pixels, indicating that given the resistance values and the spatial configuration of land covers in the study area, current flows through forest whenever possible.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim.

    Findingnone given

    Pinch points, narrow corridors where organisms appear required to traverse when moving through the landscape, are shown prominently in mosaics.

    “Shown prominently in mosaics are pinch points, narrow corridors where organisms appear to be required to traverse when moving through the landscape.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    The most similar mosaics to the best mosaic (smallest seam prominence) had the largest buffer sizes (500×500 tiles with 200% buffer), the largest tile sizes (1000×1000 tiles with 75% buffer, 1000×1000 tiles with 50% buffer), or both (1000×1000 tiles with 100% buffer).

    “the most similar results had the largest buffer sizes (500×500 tiles with a 200% buffer), the largest tile sizes (1000×1000 tiles with a 75% buffer, 1000×1000 tiles with a 50% buffer), or both (1000×1000 tiles with a 100% buffer).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Findingown data

    Processing in Circuitscape of calculation areas of 5000×5000 pixels demanded substantial memory.

    “Although the processing in Circuitscape of calculation areas of 5000×5000 pixels demanded substantial memory (Appendix S3)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    Despite substantial differences among tiling parameters, current density mosaics were quite similar, with the major differences among mosaics being the difference in seam prominence; across a wide range of tile and buffer sizes, mosaics were nearly identical with identifiable differences being seam prominence.

    “Despite the substantial differences among tiling parameters, current density mosaics were quite similar, with the major differences among mosaics being the difference in seam prominence.”
    • Also stated in: § Conclusion · plain
      “Across a wide range of choices of tile sizes and buffer size when creating the Circuitscape computation areas, mosaics were nearly identical, with the identifiable differences among mosaics being the prominence of seams at tile junctures.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    The distribution of current passing through forests is uneven and is particularly low in and around the area delineated by the outer edges of the high-resistance city.

    “Tracing along the eastern edge of the current density mosaic (Figure 6b) shows the uneven distribution of current passing through forests, which is particularly low in and around the area delineated by the outer edges of the high-resistance city.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Findingnone given

    Depending on the size of the tiles and buffers used to create the calculation area, seam lines between tiles may remain visible when a mosaic is assembled for a study area.

    “depending on the size of the tiles and buffers used to create the calculation area (Figure 2) for this method, seam lines between tiles may remain visible when a mosaic is assembled for a study area.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    Preliminary testing for this study indicated that two directional runs appeared to capture the meaningful spatial variability in current density; incorporating additional directions did not result in discernibly different mosaics.

    “Somewhat surprisingly, preliminary testing for this study indicated that two directional runs appeared to capture the meaningful spatial variability in current density; incorporating additional directions did not result in discernibly different mosaics.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Interpretationown data

    Not all forest in this landscape is equally important for providing connectivity; a complex interplay of land-cover composition and configuration influences the contribution to landscape connectivity provided by a given area.

    “The substantial variation in current density suggests that not all forest in this landscape is equally important for providing connectivity; rather, the Circuitscape algorithm indicates that a complex interplay of land-cover composition and configuration influences the contribution to landscape connectivity provided by a given area.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    An earlier report by Anderson et al. outlined a tiling approach to produce a continuous map, based on circuit theory, of potential movement paths in multiple directions.

    “An earlier report by Anderson et al. [47] outlined a tiling approach to produce a continuous map, based on circuit theory, of potential movement paths in multiple directions.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Anderson et al. [47] Anderson MG, Clark Melissa, Olivero Sheldon, Arlene (2012) Resilient sites for terrestrial conservation in the northeast and mid-atlantic region. The Nature Conservancy. 168 p.

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    Circuit theory connectivity models are generally seen to be robust to coarsening of input data, which can enable computation across very large areas at coarse pixel resolution.

    “Circuit theory connectivity models are generally seen to be robust to coarsening of input data [53], which can enable computation across very large areas at coarse pixel resolution [28], [57].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [53] SA Cushman, 2010, Scale dependent inference in landscape genetics, Landscape Ecology source
    • cites [28] BH McRae, 2008, Using circuit theory to model connectivity in ecology, evolution, and conservation, Ecology source
    • cites [57] SA Cushman, 2012, Evaluating the sufficiency of protected lands for maintaining wildlife population connectivity in the U.S. northern Rocky Mountains, Diversity and Distributions source

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Interpretationnone given

    The digital designation of a given connectivity value does not imply certainty of where a given organism will travel.

    “We note that the digital designation of a given connectivity value does not imply certainty of where a given organism will travel.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Premisecitation

    A large and growing number of studies employ network-based connectivity models representing a landscape as high-quality habitat nodes with links connecting pairs of nodes if movement is possible between them.

    “A large and growing number of studies employ network-based connectivity models, in which a landscape is represented as a set of high-quality habitat nodes, with links connecting pairs of nodes if movement is possible between them [12]–[17].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 6 sources checked
    • cites [12] DL Urban, 2009, Graph models of habitat mosaics, Ecology Letters source
    • cites [13] S Saura, 2010, A common currency for the different ways in which patches and links can contribute to habitat availability and connectivity in the landscape, Ecography source
    • cites [14] A Zetterberg, 2010, Making graph theory operational for landscape ecological assessments, planning, and design, Landscape and Urban Planning source
    • cites [15] P Galpern, 2011, Patch-based graphs of landscape connectivity: A guide to construction, analysis and application for conservation, Biological Conservation source
    • cites [16] B Rayfield, 2011, Connectivity for conservation: a framework to classify network measures, Ecology source
    • cites [17] M-J Fortin, 2012, Spatial statistics, spatial regression, and graph theory in ecology, Spatial Statistics source

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    Network-based connectivity statistics are often dependent on an assumed graph-theoretic model and are often computer resource-limited as larger areas are considered.

    “Network-based representations can be analyzed to derive meaningful connectivity statistics [22]–[25], though these are often dependent on an assumed graph-theoretic model (e.g., complete graph, minimum planar graph) [19] and are often computer resource-limited as larger areas are considered [26].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 6 sources checked
    • cites [22] JM Calabrese, 2004, A comparison-shopper's guide to connectivity metrics, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment source
    • cites [23] P Kindlmann, 2008, Connectivity measures: a review, Landscape Ecology source
    • cites [24] B Rayfield, 2010, The sensitivity of least-cost habitat graphs to relative cost surface values, Landscape Ecology source
    • cites [25] RJ Dyer, 2004, Population Graphs: the graph theoretic shape of genetic structure, Molecular Ecology source
    • cites [19] Dale MRT, Fortin MJ (2010) From graphs to spatial graphs. In: Futuyma DJ, Shafer HB, Simberloff D, editors. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews. 21–38. source
    • cites [26] A Moilanen, 2011, On the limitations of graph-theoretic connectivity in spatial ecology and conservation, Journal of Applied Ecology source

  • Probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductown data

    A full 3 by 4 factorial design was used to systematically vary tile size and Circuitscape calculation area to understand potential variation in the connectivity mosaic.

    “To understand potential variation in the connectivity mosaic resulting from the choice of tile size and Circuitscape calculation area, we systematically varied these choices with a full 3 by 4 factorial design (Appendix S1).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.

    Interpretationnone given

    Increasing the buffer size, or decreasing the tile size, has the effect of increasing either the processing cost of each tile, the number of tiles needed to cover a large area, or both.

    “Yet increasing the buffer size, or decreasing the tile size, has the effect of increasing either the processing cost of each tile, the number of tiles needed to cover a large area, or both.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductcitation

    A buffer around each tile with surrounding land cover data was created to minimize border effects that could be formed by the tiling process.

    “To minimize border effects that could be formed by the tiling process [51], we created a buffer around each tile with the surrounding land cover data to form larger and overlapping calculation areas for processing in Circuitscape (Figure 2).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [51] EL Koen, 2010, The effect of map boundary on estimates of landscape resistance to animal movement, PLoS One source

      Checked before — its earlier verdict is held back until a new check runs.

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Because current density varies across a landscape according to underlying land use/land cover patterns, no two adjacent rows or columns have exactly identical current density values.

    “Because current density varies across a landscape according to the underlying land use/land cover patterns, no two adjacent rows or columns have exactly identical current density values.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Study design and conductnone given

    Mosaics were created without any smoothing or manipulations of current density values between tiles.

    “Mosaics were created without any smoothing or manipulations of current density values between the tiles.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisenone given

    The principal application of landscape circuit analysis has been point-to-point calculations, and it remains difficult to generalize from point-to-point mode into maps showing landscape connectivity across large areas.

    “While this approach has been proven useful for estimating the resistance distance between particular areas or populations, it remains difficult to generalize from the point-to-point mode into maps showing landscape connectivity across large areas.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Study design and conductown data

    The robustness of omnidirectional connectivity mosaics was tested by producing current density mosaics using two other arbitrary oblique directions and exploring similarity among the resulting mosaics.

    “To test the robustness of our omnidirectional connectivity mosaics, we produced current density mosaics using two other arbitrary oblique directions and explored similarity among the resulting mosaics.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Interpretationnone given

    The mosaics indicate high-flow regions that can be integral to landscape connectivity, and can be difficult to identify in non-circuit software or through point-to-point calculations of resistance distance.

    “The mosaics indicate high-flow regions that can be integral to landscape connectivity, and can be difficult to identify in non-circuit software or through point-to-point calculations of resistance distance.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The shadows of current flow cast by cities were linked not only to the size of the high-resistance areas, but also to their configuration and placement in the landscape.

    “Overall, the shadows of current flow cast by cities were linked not only to the size of the high-resistance areas, but also to their configuration and placement in the landscape.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Especially prominent seams may not be rooted in real patterns of land-cover composition or configuration.

    “Especially prominent seams may not be rooted in real patterns of land-cover composition or configuration.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Connectivity among forest patches can facilitate or constrain movements of abiotic and biotic components of forest ecosystems.

    “Connectivity among forest patches can facilitate or constrain movements of abiotic and biotic components of forest ecosystems [5], [6].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [5] Forman RTT (1995) Land mosaics: the ecology of landscapes and regions. New YorkNew YorkUSA: Cambridge University Press. 656 p. source
    • cites [6] ME Soulé, 2004, The role of connectivity in Australian conservation, Pacific Conservation Biology source

  • Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The ability to create arbitrarily large mosaics providing a comprehensive view of connectivity should be of considerable use to researchers and practitioners working over broad spatial areas in a variety of different domains.

    “The ability to create arbitrarily large mosaics providing a comprehensive view of connectivity should be of considerable use to researchers and practitioners working over broad spatial areas in a variety of different domains.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
34 of 34

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The chosen resistance estimates adequately represent true movement characteristics.

    “given that the chosen resistance estimates adequately represent true movement characteristics”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    There are currently no clear guidelines on how to systematically determine whether an area is a pinch point, or whether a single current value threshold might reliably identify pinch points across a large set of tiles.

    “there are currently no clear guidelines on how one would systematically determine whether an area is a pinch point, or whether a single current value threshold might reliably identify pinch points across a large set of tiles.”
2 of 2

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Omnidirectional or wall-to-wall approaches avoid the need to arbitrarily define and delineate discrete areas to connect, revealing important areas for connectivity over continuous landscape gradients.

    “‘Omnidirectional’ or ‘wall-to-wall’ approaches (e.g., Walpole et al. 2012; Koen et al. 2014; Pelletier et al. 2014; Anderson et al. 2016; McRae et al. 2016; Supporting Information) avoid the need to arbitrarily define and delineate discrete areas to connect (e.g., habitat cores or patches), revealing important areas for connectivity over continuous landscape gradients.”

    From Circuit‐theory applications to connectivity science and conservation (2019) · cites this paper as Pelletier et al. 2014

  • It is possible to map even larger areas using a tiling approach.

    “It is possible to map even larger areas using a tiling approach (Pelletier et al. 2014).”

    From Landscape connectivity for wildlife: development and validation of multispecies linkage maps (2014) · cites this paper as Pelletier et al. 2014

  • A number of studies have pursued 'wall-to-wall' or 'omnidirectional' applications of Circuitscape.

    “To find additional efficiency in computation time, and also address other modeling goals or bias issues, a number of studies have pursued 'wall-to-wall' or 'omnidirectional' applications of Circuitscape ( [47,50,73,178,179]).”

    From Circuitscape in julia: empowering dynamic approaches to connectivity assessment (2021) · cites this paper as [47]

  • On the computation side, the shift to wall-to-wall applications allows users to subdivide or tile the landscape, conduct multiple assessments on smaller problems, and map the products together.

    “On the computation side, this shift in how Circuitscape is applied allows users to subdivide or”

    From Circuitscape in julia: empowering dynamic approaches to connectivity assessment (2021) · cites this paper as [47]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Shadow-effects discussion cites the wrong omnidirectional panel

    Minor

    The text pairs the north-south shadows in Figure 5d with an omnidirectional mosaic labeled Figure 4b. The Figure 5 caption identifies Figure 5b as the omnidirectional mosaic for the same shadow-effects region.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 64 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. DA Rudnick, 2012, The role of landscape connectivity in planning and implementing conservation and restoration priorities, Issues in Ecology: Report Number 16, Fall, 2012, 1

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Metadata

Authors
Pelletier, D., Clark, M., Anderson, M. G., Rayfield, B., Wulder, M. A., & Cardille, J. A.
Affiliations
The Nature Conservancy (US)
Venue
PLOS One
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2014-01-30
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
e84135
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0084135
PMC
PMC3907452
OpenAlex
W2046535835
Cited by
158
References
64
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 4
FWCI
7.74
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Science and Industry Endowment Fund
  • Government of Canada
  • U.S. Forest Service
  • Canadian Space Agency
  • Natural Resources Canada
  • Canadian Forest Service
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Land Use and Ecosystem Services
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Keywords
Circuitscape, habitat connectivity, tiling, pinch points, landscape mosaic, habitat fragmentation, landscape composition and configuration, movement barriers, conservation planning
MeSH terms
Animals, Conservation of Natural Resources, Models, Theoretical, Quebec, Forestry, Ecosystem, Geographic Mapping, Plant Dispersal

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-11-08, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-11-08 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

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