Data from: Quantifying past and present connectivity illuminates a rapidly changing landscape for the African elephant
Clinton W. Epps, Samuel K. Wasser, Jonah L. Keim, Benezeth M. Mutayoba & Justin S. Brashares
There is widespread concern about impacts of land-use change on connectivity among animal and plant populations, but those impacts are difficult to quantify. Moreover, lack of knowledge regarding ecosystems before fragmentation may obscure appropriate conservation targets. We use occurrence and population genetic data to contrast connectivity for a long-lived mega-herbivore over historical and contemporary time frames. We test whether (i) historical gene flow is predicted by persistent landscape features rather than human settlement, (ii) contemporary...