What role do wildlife corridors serve in conservation?

Wildlife corridors play a crucial role in conservation by connecting fragmented habitats, which facilitates species movement. This connectivity is vital for maintaining genetic diversity, enabling animals to access different areas for breeding, foraging, and escaping from threats such as predators or natural disasters. By linking various ecosystems, wildlife corridors help mitigate the effects of habitat destruction and urbanization, allowing organisms to find suitable habitats for survival and reproduction.

Option C captures the essence of this role, as it emphasizes the importance of linking distinct habitats, thereby promoting the natural movement of species. This movement is essential in maintaining a balanced ecosystem and ensuring the long-term survival of various species, especially in the face of climate change and habitat loss, where animals can become isolated in smaller patches of habitat, increasing their vulnerability to extinction.

The other options focus on different aspects of conservation or wildlife management which, while important, do not directly describe the primary function of wildlife corridors. For instance, managing human-wildlife conflict zones, providing food resources, and controlling invasive species populations are all significant components of wildlife conservation, but they do not encapsulate the chief purpose of wildlife corridors in enhancing habitat connectivity.