Landscape fragmentation overturns classical metapopulation thinking
[1];
[2];
[5]
- Univ. of California, San Francisco, CA (United States); Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)
- Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States); Santa Fe Inst. (SFI), Santa Fe, NM (United States)
- US Geological Survey, Oakhurst, CA (United States); Univ. of California, San Francisco, CA (United States)
- Univ. of Helsinki (Finland)
- Univ. of Helsinki (Finland); Univ. of Jyvaskyla (Finland); Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology, Trondheim (Norway)
Habitat loss and isolation caused by landscape fragmentation represent a growing threat to global biodiversity. Existing theory suggests that the process will lead to a decline in metapopulation viability. However, since most metapopulation models are restricted to simple networks of discrete habitat patches, the effects of real landscape fragmentation, particularly in stochastic environments, are not well understood. To close this major gap in ecological theory, we developed a spatially explicit, individual-based model applicable to realistic landscape structures, bridging metapopulation ecology and landscape ecology. This model reproduced classical metapopulation dynamics under conventional model assumptions, but on fragmented landscapes, it uncovered general dynamics that are in stark contradiction to the prevailing views in the ecological and conservation literature. Notably, fragmentation can give rise to a series of dualities: a) positive and negative responses to environmental noise, b) relative slowdown and acceleration in density decline, and c) synchronization and desynchronization of local population dynamics. Furthermore, counter to common intuition, species that interact locally (“residents”) were often more resilient to fragmentation than long-ranging “migrants.” This set of findings signals a need to fundamentally reconsider our approach to ecosystem management in a noisy and fragmented world.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0014664
- OSTI ID:
- 2471346
- Journal Information:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 20 Vol. 121; ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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