We've released a new version of the Linkage Mapper connectivity modeling toolbox, which automates mapping of movement corridors connecting up to thousands of habitat patches. This release rounds out the toolbox with the addition of a new climate module (details below).
The release can be downloaded here: http://code.google.com/p/linkage-mapper/ In addition to the original Linkage Mapper functionality for automatically building habitat networks and mapping corridors, we've recently added the following four modules: *CLIMATE LINKAGE MAPPER maps corridors crossing climatic gradients to facilitate species range shifts under climate change. More details about the method can be found in Nuñez et al. (2013; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12014/abstract) and on the Washington Wildlife Habitat Connectivity Working Group website ( http://waconnected.org/climate-change-analysis/). *BARRIER MAPPER implements a new method for detecting important barriers to facilitate restoration planning (details on the method can be found in a new manuscript: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0052604). *PINCHPOINT MAPPER uses Circuitscape to identify pinch-points (a.k.a. bottlenecks or choke points) in corridors produced by Linkage Mapper. *CENTRALITY MAPPER analyzes core and corridor centrality in networks produced by Linkage Mapper to help prioritize important corridors. The modules are all packaged as an open-source ArcGIS toolbox, written in Python. We invite programmers to collaborate on future Linkage Mapper development. If you have suggestions for improvement or are interested in contributing to the code base, please get in touch! Brad McRae
