ParameterSettings

LSCorridors parameters

There is a set of parameters that you must configure in LSCorridors before starting the simulations:

• Variability pattern: set this value to choose the spatial variability among corridors replicates. The variability parameter indicates the amount of local stochasticity each pixel of the resistance map is subject to in each corridor simulation. It must be a real value greater than 1, and the stochasticity is greater the higher the variability parameter. The default is 2.0.

  Variability may also be added to the the simulations by varying the initial and final positions of the corridors inside a patch. If the user wants no variation, the size of the patches must be as smaller as possible (e.g., one pixel in size); as the size of the patches increase, this variability factor also increases.

• Biological scale: set this value to define the scale of the species perception of the landscape - it determines at which extent the landscape composition influences local resistance and species movement probability. This parameter is used just in simulation methods MLmin, MLavg, and MLmax, which consider landscape influence. This value is a real number, defined in meters, and its default value is 100.

• Replicate numbers and simulation methods: fields MP, MLmin, MLavg and MLmax represent each type of simulation method. The value the users put on it refers to the numbers of replicates that LSCorridors will simulate for each ST pair, for each method. The default is 15 for each method. The simulation methods are:

  • MP (Measures by Pixel): there is not an influence of landscape on local resistance (parameter scale is ignored).

  • MLmin (Measures by Landscape - minimum): before performing simulations, each resistance surface pixel is replaced by the minimum of pixel values inside a square window around it; the size of this window represents the spatial context influence and is controlled by the scale parameter.

  • MLavg (Measures by Landscape - average): before performing simulations, each resistance surface pixel is replaced by the average values of pixels inside a square window around it; the size of this window represents the spatial context influence and is controlled by the scale parameter.

  • MLmax (Measures by Landscape - maximum): before performing simulations, each resistance surface pixel is replaced by the maximum of pixel values inside a square window around it; the size of this window represents the spatial context influence and is controlled by the scale parameter.

• Name of output corridor: it is possible to identify your sets of simulations by defining an export name here. This name will be added as a prefix to all the output files (see outputs). If nothing is written in this field the package will name the exported output files with the resistance map name.