Percolation Theory and its Applications in Landscape Ecology

Successful dispersal of species in a landscape depends on the degree of landscape connectivity. The obvious effect of landscape connectivity on the conservation of key species has led to a proliferation of connectivity measures. To correctly apply these measures we should consider a species perception of landscape connectivity as a fundamental approach. In this regard, percolation theory as one of the fundamental theories in understanding landscape connectivity has many abilities in determining thresholds of connectivity for animal species under study. The theory is based on random distributions of habitat patches and deals with determination of landscape connectivity. According to the theory if a landscape is occupied at 0.5928 of habitat patches, then we can say the landscape is connected for the species in question. This theory is used in neutral landscape models as the main concept and has many applications in determining the effects of habitat fragmentation, extinction thresholds, estimation of landscape connectivity and identification of critical habitat patches. Because of the important role of this theory in landscape ecology, this study aims to introduce percolation theory and its applications in landscape ecology. Some of these applications are neutral landscape models, critical patches of the landscape for owl, determining of critical habitat patches and forest fire.