Political borders impact associations between habitat suitability predictions and resource availability.
Matthias TschumiPatrick ScherlerJulien FattebertBeat Naef-DaenzerMartin U GrüeblerPublished in: Landscape ecology (2020)
While accounting well for remotely sensed data such as land cover, HSM may fail to predict land-use intensity and resources across borders. The relationship between geodata used as proxies and ecologically relevant resources may differ according to history, policies and socio-cultural context, constraining the viability of HSM across political borders. This study emphasises the need for fine-scale resource assessments complementing landscape-scale suitability models. Conservation measures need to consider the availability of crucial resources and their socio-economic moderators to be effective.