Prioritizing restoration sites that improve connectivity in the Appalachian landscape, USA

Restoring landscape connectivity is a key strategy for sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. We developed a decision-focused process that moves from opportunistic siting of restoration to strategic prioritization by incorporating connectivity enhancement in the Appalachian Mountains, USA. Our approach builds from a recent national-scale assessment identifying a Resilient and Connected Network (RCN) to inform land protection priorities under climate change. In three high-ranking study areas within the Appalachians, we demonstrated a circuit-theory based approach simulating the connectivity value of restoring natural vegetation at sites with high human modification. Our methods were co-developed by scientists and local decision-makers. This emphasis on study area-specific decisions led to differences in how model inputs were defined, for instance using feasible potential restoration sites instead of pixels to define opportunities. Similarly, landscape context influenced our process and in fragmented study areas we added a step that considered additional potential restoration sites outside of the current land protection-based boundaries. To help interpretation of the results, and link back to the broader network of conservation priorities, we mapped connectivity values in current flow categories that matched the RCN product. Our innovative approach and the decision-relevant framing, can inform a broad range of connectivity science applications.