New research published recently in Science maps how animals move between the world’s land-based protected areas for the first time and introduces a new index that measures how connected each of the world’s protected areas (PAs) are, called the Protected Area Isolation index (PAI). The connectedness of nature, known as ecological connectivity, is fundamental to animal movement between habitats. Connected habitats allow species to move across landscapes to find food and water, mate effectively to maintain genetic diversity and healthy wildlife populations, and adapt to the impacts of climate change. “We’ve…
Read MoreFirst-of-its-kind Index Measures the Connectedness of Nature
