Conserving species in human-modified landscapes: incorporating spatial population processes (2009-2012)

Landscapes are increasingly being modified by humans due to rapid urbanisation and agricultural expansion, with substantial negative impacts on biodiversity. Consequently, there is a growing need for planning tools to conserve biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. In these landscapes, dispersal processes are critical determinants of species viability, but conservation planning tools generally fail to adequately consider them. This project will address this issue using a novel combination of species' distribution models, genetic analysis and decision analysis to incorporate dispersal into conservation planning. These new tools will be applied and tested in the biodiversity-rich, but rapidly urbanising, Southeast Queensland bioregion.