Module 6 - Suitability Analysis / Least Cost Path

 In this analysis, I modeled potential movement corridors for black bears between two protected areas within the Coronado National Forest. Using data layers such as land cover, elevation, and roads, I developed a habitat suitability model that reflects black bears’ preferences and movement constraints.

To begin, I reclassified land cover, elevation, and proximity to roads into suitability scores, where lower scores indicate more favorable habitat. These criteria were combined using a weighted overlay, giving the most weight to land cover, followed by elevation and distance to roads. The combined suitability map was then inverted to create a cost surface, representing the ease of movement across the landscape.

Next, I converted the protected area boundaries into raster format and applied cost distance analysis to calculate the minimum movement cost from each park across the landscape. Summing the two cost distance outputs highlighted areas with the lowest cumulative travel cost, which likely represent the most suitable corridors for black bear movement.

Finally, by applying a threshold to this combined cost raster, I extracted the core corridor areas connecting the two parks. The resulting corridor aligns with forested and higher elevation areas while avoiding roads and urban development, supporting the ecological needs of black bears.

This corridor analysis provides valuable insights for conservation planning by identifying critical linkages that facilitate wildlife movement and maintain landscape connectivity in the Coronado National Forest.