Research overview: functional versus structural connectivity

Conservation science distinguishes structural connectivity, the physical continuity of habitat, from functional connectivity, whether animals actually move through it. This overview surveys research on this distinction as it applies to big cats. A landscape may appear connected on a habitat map yet fail to permit movement because of behavioral avoidance, human disturbance, or mortality risk, while a seemingly fragmented landscape may still allow dispersal if animals tolerate the matrix. Studies use telemetry, genetics, and camera traps to measure functional connectivity directly, revealing mismatches with structural predictions. Researchers stress that conserving corridors requires understanding how the focal species perceives and uses the landscape, not just where habitat exists. The overview frames the functional-structural distinction as central to effective corridor planning, cautioning that protecting apparent habitat linkages is meaningless unless the target cats will and can use them to move between populations.