---
title: "Sensitivity-based prioritization of connected forest: mapping loss and gain potential"
id: "biorxiv-8-where-conservation-and-restoration-matter-most-sensitivity-based-prioritization"
canonical_url: "https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-8-where-conservation-and-restoration-matter-most-sensitivity-based-prioritization"
content_type: "clinical_feed_article"
specialty: "General"
source_name: "bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints)"
source_url: "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.750632v1?rss=1"
published_at: "2026-09-13T12:00:00.000Z"
evidence_level: "Verified Feed"
license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0 / Informational Use"
---
# Sensitivity-based prioritization of connected forest: mapping loss and gain potential
## Provenance & Clinical Metadata
- **Canonical URL:** https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-8-where-conservation-and-restoration-matter-most-sensitivity-based-prioritization
- **Specialty:** [General](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/general.md)
- **Primary Source:** bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints)
- **Source URL:** [Original Journal Publication](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.750632v1?rss=1)
- **Published At:** 2026-09-13T12:00:00.000Z
- **Evidence Rating:** Verified Feed
## Executive GIST (TL;DR)
- The authors extend **sensitivity-based conservation prioritization** to quantify where local habitat change most strongly affects landscape-scale connectivity relevant to persistence. - They derive spatial metrics of **loss potential** (where local degradation would cause large connected-habitat loss) and **gain potential** (where local improvement would yield large connected-habitat gains) by differentiating a persistence-relevant connectivity metric with respect to local habitat condition. - The approach distinguishes areas where local condition change has outsized landscape consequences, complementing traditional criteria based on habitat condition, opportunity, or broad ecological value. - Applied to national forest-naturalness data in Norway, the analysis shows that **loss and gain potential are spatially related but not redundant**: they identify different priorities in many locations. - **Gain potential** is not concentrated only in the most degraded forests, indicating restoration opportunities can exist outside areas of lowest condition. - Both high-loss and high-gain areas are poorly represented in current protected areas; however, **loss potential** is consistently better represented than gain potential within protected areas. - The extended sensitivity-based framework provides a general, scalable way to link local habitat-condition change to persistence-relevant landscape outcomes and to inform separate conservation and restoration decisions. - The study was conducted using national-level forest-naturalness data for Norway; funding was declared from the Research Council of Norway. Specific methodological parameters, numerical results, maps, and supplementary details were reported in the original preprint but are not reproduced here.
## Clinical Analysis & Structured Key Points
Where conservation and restoration matter most: sensitivity-based prioritization of connected forest | bioRxiv Skip to main content New Results Where conservation and restoration matter most: sensitivity-based prioritization of connected forest View ORCID Profile Bram Van Moorter , View ORCID Profile Rannveig M. Jacobsen , View ORCID Profile Ulrika Asplund , View ORCID Profile Yennie K. Bredin , View ORCID Profile Jenni Norden , View ORCID Profile Graciela Rusch , View ORCID Profile Balint Czucz , View ORCID Profile Manuela Panzacchi doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.10.750632 Bram Van Moorter Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Bram Van Moorter For correspondence: bram.van.moorter{at}nina.no Rannveig M. Jacobsen Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Rannveig M. Jacobsen Ulrika Asplund Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Ulrika Asplund Yennie K. Bredin Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Yennie K. Bredin Jenni Norden Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Jenni Norden Graciela Rusch Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Graciela Rusch Balint Czucz Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Balint Czucz Manuela Panzacchi Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Manuela Panzacchi Abstract Info/History Metrics Supplementary material Preview PDF Abstract Achieving global conservation and restoration targets requires knowing not only how much land to conserve and restore, but also where such actions will have the greatest ecological effect. Conservation and, in particular, restoration priorities are often inferred from habitat condition, opportunity, or broad ecological value, yet these criteria do not necessarily identify where local changes generate the largest landscape-scale consequences. Building on sensitivity-based conservation prioritization, we extend the approach to derive ecological loss and gain potential by differentiating a persistence-relevant connectivity metric with respect to local habitat condition. Sensitivity identifies areas where local degradation or improvement would most strongly affect connected habitat at the landscape scale. Combining sensitivity with current condition distinguishes high loss potential, where degradation would have large ecological consequences, from high gain potential, where ecological improvement could generate large benefits. Applying the framework to national forest-naturalness data in Norway, we show that loss and gain potential are spatially related but far from redundant, and that gain potential is not simply concentrated in the most degraded forests. Both high-loss and high-gain areas were poorly represented within current protected areas, although loss potential was consistently better represented than gain potential. Extending sensitivity-based prioritization in this way provides a general and scalable means of linking local habitat-condition change to persistence-relevant landscape outcomes, while distinguishing the ecological potentials that can inform conservation and restoration decisions. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funder Information Declared The Research Council of Norway, https://ror.org/00epmv149 , 326979 Copyright The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license . Back to top Previous Posted September 13, 2026. Download PDF Supplementary Material Email Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv. NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article. Your Email * Your Name * Send To * Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas. You are going to email the following Where conservation and restoration matter most: sensitivity-based prioritization of connected forest Message Subject (Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv Message Body (Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website. Your Personal Message CAPTCHA This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Share Where conservation and restoration matter most: sensitivity-based prioritization of connected forest Bram Van Moorter , Rannveig M. Jacobsen , Ulrika Asplund , Yennie K. Bredin , Jenni Norden , Graciela Rusch , Balint Czucz , Manuela Panzacchi bioRxiv 2026.09.10.750632; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.10.750632 Share This Article: Copy Citation Tools Where conservation and restoration matter most: sensitivity-based prioritization of connected forest Bram Van Moorter , Rannveig M. Jacobsen , Ulrika Asplund , Yennie K. Bredin , Jenni Norden , Graciela Rusch , Balint Czucz , Manuela Panzacchi bioRxiv 2026.09.10.750632; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.10.750632 Citation Manager Formats BibTeX Bookends EasyBib EndNote (tagged) EndNote 8 (xml) Medlars Mendeley Papers RefWorks Tagged Ref Manager RIS Zotero Tweet Widget Facebook Like Google Plus One Subject Areas All Articles Animal Behavior and Cognition (7983) Biochemistry (18684) Bioengineering (14804) Bioinformatics (44278) Biophysics (22531) Cancer Biology (19650) Cell Biology (26810) Clinical Trials (138) Developmental Biology (13915) Ecology (20940) Epidemiology (2067) Evolutionary Biology (25400) Genetics (16132) Genomics (23443) Immunology (18640) Microbiology (42360) Molecular Biology (17992) Neuroscience (93155) Paleontology (695) Pathology (2974) Pharmacology and Toxicology (5075) Physiology (8087) Plant Biology (15944) Scientific Communication and Education (2094) Synthetic Biology (4546) Systems Biology (10202) Zoology (2381)
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