Biodiversity · conservation

Habitat Corridor

Meaning statusEstablishedSource recordDirect document linkedWhy these are different

Definition

A habitat corridor is a connection across the landscape that links areas of habitat, supporting the movement of species to find resources such as food, water, and mates. Corridors range from small revegetated strips linking two forest patches to continental-scale linkages, and take forms including linear strips, stepping stones of habitat, riparian zones, and underpasses or overpasses across infrastructure.

References

Australian Government DCCEEWWhat are wildlife corridors? (connections across the landscape linking habitat areas; support movement for food, water, resources; scales from local to hundreds of kilometres)

definition and forms

Center for Large Landscape ConservationHabitat Corridors & Landscape Connectivity (corridors facilitate movement of organisms, genes and ecological processes; migration, dispersal and commuting types)

typology and function

Overview

What it means

Fragmentation isolates populations into habitat islands, where small populations risk inbreeding and local extinction. Corridors restore connectivity — the flow of individuals, genes, and ecological processes — and become more critical under climate change, as species need to shift ranges to track suitable conditions. Corridors are species- and process-specific: what connects a frog's world differs from a jaguar's.

How it is used

Conservation planners design corridor networks and ecological connectivity areas; the concept informs protected-area system design, infrastructure mitigation, and 30x30 connectivity targets.

Why it matters

Protecting patches without connections conserves museums, not living systems; corridors are what keep protected areas ecologically functional.