Landscape structure and asymmetrical inter-patch connectivity in a metapopulation of the endangered Iberian lynx

Ferreras analyzed how landscape structure governs movement between habitat patches in the Iberian lynx metapopulation of Donana and surrounding areas, showing that connectivity was asymmetrical, dispersal between patches depended on the quality of intervening habitat and was not equal in both directions. By combining movement data with landscape analysis, the study identified which patches functioned as sources, which as sinks, and where corridors needed protection or restoration to keep the metapopulation viable. The work was influential in demonstrating that connectivity is not simply a function of distance but of the permeability and configuration of the matrix between patches. It informed the conservation strategy for one of the world's rarest cats and exemplified rigorous, movement-based connectivity analysis for an endangered felid.