Habitat and Connectivity of Darwin's Fox, an Endemic and Endangered Species From Southern Chile

ABSTRACT To conserve Darwin's fox ( Lycalopex fulvipes , family Canidae ), an endemic Chilean species and one of the most endangered canids in the world, it is essential to understand its potential habitat suitability, habitat nuclei and movement corridors to identify priority areas for conservation. To this end, we developed a habitat suitability modelling approach for the species, incorporating environmental covariates and occurrence records. The models were calibrated and evaluated using correlation analysis, variance inflation factor (VIF), regularisation, bootstrap, area under the curve (AUC) and true skill statistic (TSS). To assess the contribution of each covariate, we applied a Jackknife analysis. Habitat nuclei were identified and delineated by applying a threshold to the habitat suitability model and refining their extent using spatial layers relevant to Darwin's fox. Potential movement corridors were identified using a resistance‐to‐movement matrix derived from an analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The most influential variables were canopy cover and precipitation, with the highest habitat suitability concentrated in mountainous areas experiencing lower levels of human disturbance. We identified seven habitat nuclei and six corridors, connecting all nuclei, although some remained considerably more isolated. Our findings demonstrate that the study area contains critical sites possessing the necessary attributes to support effective conservation of the species' habitat.