Article
Ecology
Michael Drielsma, Jamie Love
Summary: The article discusses the development of landscape connectivity measures based on metapopulation theory over the past 20 years, as well as the methodological issues encountered. The authors propose a solution to the deceptive paradox of patch-based connectivity and apply it to practical habitat suitability mapping.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Graeme S. Cumming, Rafael A. Magris, Kristi Maciejewski
Summary: Context connectivity between habitat patches plays a vital role in ecological processes. Traditional metrics do not measure the contribution of individual habitat patches to overall connectivity. This study develops a new landscape metric, cross-scale centrality, which integrates measurements of patch centrality at different scales to quantify the cross-scale contribution of each patch. The results show that cross-scale centrality is faster and more efficient than standard conservation planning software in capturing locations with high cross-scale connectivity.
Article
Ecology
Elena Haeler, Ariel Bergamini, Stefan Blaser, Christian Ginzler, Karin Hindenlang, Christine Keller, Thomas Kiebacher, Urs G. Kormann, Christoph Scheidegger, Ronald Schmidt, Jonas Stillhard, Alexander Szallies, Loic Pellissier, Thibault Lachat
Summary: The amount of dead wood positively affects beetle richness, but only on small spatial scales for fungi, bryophytes, and lichens; dead wood amount has no effect on larger scales, while isolation decreases species richness.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lynda Donaldson, Jonathan J. Bennie, Robert J. Wilson, Ilya M. D. Maclean
Summary: Research suggests that prioritizing protected area networks is an effective way to conserve multiple species. Prioritizing habitat quality achieves the highest levels of persistence and population size for individual species, while considering habitat connectivity is the most effective strategy to conserve multiple species in the same network.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Yoan Fourcade, Michiel F. WallisDeVries, Mikko Kuussaari, Chris A. M. van Swaay, Janne Heliola, Erik Ockinger
Summary: Habitat fragmentation can affect species distribution changes caused by climate change, and the spatial distribution of SNH plays a key role in species turnover.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Luis F. Camacho, Gabriela Barragan, Santiago Espinosa
Summary: Recent research has shown that light pollution, in combination with habitat loss and fragmentation, negatively impacts insect populations. The Choc'o golden scarab beetles are scarcer in areas with reduced forest cover and are constantly attracted to urban lights, hindering their dispersal between patches. This pattern suggests that light pollution intercepts individuals during inter-patch dispersal, disrupting metapopulation dynamics and making populations in areas with scarce fragmented habitat more vulnerable.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Bram Van Moorter, Ilkka Kivimaeki, Manuela Panzacchi, Santiago Saura, Bernardo Brandao Niebuhr, Olav Strand, Marco Saerens
Summary: Niche modeling is used to assess the effects of anthropogenic land use and climate change on species distributions and inform spatial conservation planning. The functional habitat framework integrates biotic, abiotic, and movement constraints in niche modeling using network theory, showing its superiority over traditional suitability. This framework opens up a wide range of applications in spatial conservation planning.
Article
Biology
Adam Pepi, Patrick Grof-Tisza, Marcel Holyoak, Richard Karban
Summary: Dispersal behavior has important effects on spatial population dynamics and persistence, and we should include such non-random dispersal in metapopulation models.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Annie Guiller, Guillaume Decocq, Thomas Kichey, Pedro Poli, Katrien Vandepitte, Francoise Dubois, Olivier Honnay, Deborah Closset-Kopp
Summary: It is found that genetic diversity, spatial genetic structure, and gene flow of forest plant populations are influenced by the permeability of agricultural matrix in fragmented landscapes. Forest specialist plants are more vulnerable to fragmentation and require higher habitat quality for population maintenance. Therefore, it is important to conserve ancient forest fragments and restore functional connectivity among forest patches within agricultural landscapes.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Annie Guiller, Guillaume Decocq, Thomas Kichey, Pedro Poli, Katrien Vandepitte, Francoise Dubois, Olivier Honnay, Deborah Closset-Kopp
Summary: In rural landscapes, the composition and management intensity of agricultural areas affect genetic diversity, spatial genetic structure, and gene flow in forest plant populations. This study found that low matrix permeability disrupts gene flow and decreases spatial genetic structure, particularly for forest specialist species.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Emma J. Walker, Benjamin Gilbert
Summary: Global changes can lead to species declines and extinctions through habitat destruction and degradation, with distinct consequences for species dynamics and extinction. Habitat degradation has a faster impact on species populations, particularly for rare species, while habitat destruction shows clear thresholds. Predicting the long-term impacts of global changes on species can be based on species traits and the location and steepness of thresholds.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexander Garcia-Anton, Vicente Garza, Juan Traba
Summary: The Dupont's Lark metapopulation in Spain consists of 24 populations, 100 subpopulations, and 294 potential stepping stones. Connectivity of the network is influenced by movement thresholds and the presence of stepping stones. Key nodes are located in the core of the metapopulation, facilitating connectivity among subpopulations, while peripheral populations require stepping stones or longer potential movement thresholds to join the network. The conservation of traditional grazing lands and identification of critical stepping stones are essential for the long-term preservation of Dupont's Lark in Spain.
Article
Ecology
Harry A. Moore, Damian R. Michael, Judy A. Dunlop, Leonie E. Valentine, Mitchell A. Cowan, Dale G. Nimmo
Summary: Habitat amount and configuration are independent but closely linked landscape characteristics. This study found that habitat configuration has a stronger impact on the occupancy and abundance of northern quolls than habitat amount when the habitat amount is low. This highlights the importance of considering habitat configuration in conservation efforts.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Zhiqiang Tan, Yunliang Li, Qi Zhang, Xinggen Liu, Yanyan Song, Chenyang Xue, Jianzhong Lu
Summary: Developed the Connectivity ASsessment Tool 1.0 (CAST1.0) to assess hydrological connectivity effectively, with a focus on the case of Poyang Lake in China. Found that the response of effective hydrological connectivity to inundation depth, flow velocity, and water temperature shows a dynamic threshold effect, providing insights into potential habitat patches and links.
Article
Ecology
Santiago Saura
Summary: The habitat amount hypothesis suggests that species richness increases with habitat amount in the local landscape. However, applying this hypothesis reveals negative effects of habitat fragmentation on species richness, emphasizing the importance of habitat configuration for biodiversity management. The misinterpretation of the habitat amount hypothesis has led to overlooking the impacts of fragmentation on species distributions in the landscape.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Katherine D. Holmes, Anurag A. Agrawal
Summary: At small spatial scales, the attraction or deterrence of herbivores by plant neighbors can affect plants' susceptibility to damage, with induced resistance playing a role in mitigating spatial variability. Neighboring effects were found between closely related plant species in natural populations, and inducing plant resistance in a common garden changed these effects. Induction was effective in reducing beetle oviposition on focal plants in heterospecific groups, eliminating negative neighbor effects for the less preferred plant species, while having minimal effect in conspecific patches. This suggests that inducible resistance may help plants cope with spatial heterogeneity in susceptibility to herbivores.
Article
Entomology
Meghan T. Hayden, Katherine D. Holmes, Lina M. Arcila Hernandez
Summary: The study found that both maternal and current environmental effects on crowding and plant quality significantly influenced aphid body size and reproduction. Specifically, aphid body size increased with current plant quality and decreased with aphid density, showing a direct positive relationship between body size and fecundity. The study did not find evidence for adaptive maternal effects, instead revealing that poor maternal environments constrained aphid body size and reproduction, especially in offspring with unchecked subsequent nymph population growth.
ENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Katherine D. Holmes, Zoe L. Getman-Pickering, Erika L. Mudrak, Alison G. Power
Summary: Spatial variation in plant community composition is a key factor influencing susceptibility to herbivores. This study investigates the role of competition in mediating associational effects between plants. The results show that competition weakens the effects of neighbor identity and reduces associational susceptibility.