WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Researchers genotyped 243 non-invasively collected fecal samples across the Guinea baboon range. Genetic diversity was positively associated with shrublands and forest–savanna mosaics; rivers, grasslands and shrublands were associated with functional connectivity, while intensive cropland and large water bodies acted as stronger resistance. Forest–cropland mosaics were more permeable than strict monocultures.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
The useful conservation unit is the landscape matrix, not simply the amount of habitat left. In a species able to use human-modified landscapes, heterogeneous working lands and riverine corridors may retain connectivity that intensive monocultures do not.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
Landscape-genetic resistance models infer potential connectivity rather than observing contemporary dispersal directly. Genetic structure also integrates historical demography and past landscapes, and the diversity–environment analysis had limited power across only ten geographic demes; the study does not prove that converting an individual farm to agroforestry will restore gene flow.
SOURCE
Heredity
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