Research overview: snow leopard population genetics and habitat fragmentation

Snow leopards occur at naturally low density across a patchy, mountainous range, so climate-driven habitat fragmentation poses a real risk to gene flow. This overview surveys what noninvasive genetic sampling (scat-based genotyping) has revealed about population structure, connectivity, and effective population size across the species' range, and how those findings inform projections of future isolation. It explains why subpopulations connected by narrow montane corridors are especially exposed to inbreeding and loss of diversity if warming severs linkages. The synthesis connects landscape genetics to climate adaptation planning, showing how genetic monitoring complements distribution modeling in identifying which snow leopard populations most need corridor protection.