MetaConnect, a new platform for population viability modelling to assist decision makers in conservation and urban planning

Abstract

In a context of global change, scientists and policy-makers require tools to address the issue of biodiversity loss. Population viability analysis (PVA) has been the main tool to deal with this problem. However, the tools developed during the 90s poorly integrate recent scientific advances in landscape genetics and dispersal. We developed a flexible and modular modelling platform for PVA that addresses many of the limitations of existing software. MetaConnect is an individual-based, process-based and PVA-oriented modelling platform which could be used as a research or a decision-making tool. Here, we present the core base modelling of MetaConnect. We demonstrate its potential use through a case study illustrating the platforms capability for performing integrated PVA including extinction probability estimation, genetic differentiation and landscape connectivity analysis. We used MetaConnect to assess the impact of infrastructure works on the natterjack toad metapopulation functioning.