Circuitscape Analysis

Circuitscape, developed by Brad McRae (2008), applies circuit theory from electrical engineering to predict organism movement and genetic connectivity across landscapes. The method treats landscapes as electrical networks where habitat quality is resistance and organism movement is electrical current. By analogy, organisms diffusing through a landscape follow paths determined by landscape resistance: corridors of low resistance (good habitat) are preferentially used. Circuitscape predicts movement probabilities, identifies critical corridors, and quantifies connectivity between habitat patches.