Biodiversity, Species Interactions and Ecological Networks in a Fragmented World

Hagen, Melanie; Kissling, W. Daniel; Rasmussen, Claus; Aguiar, Marcus A. M. de; Brown, Lee E.; Carstensen, Daniel; Alves-dos-Santos, Isabel; Dupont, Yoko L.; Edwards, François; Genini, Julieta; Guimarães, Paulo R.; Jenkins, Gareth B.; Jordano, Pedro; Kaiser‐Bunbury, Christopher N.; Ledger, Mark E.; Maia, Kate P.; Marquitti, Flávia M. D.; McLaughlin, Órla B.; Morellato, Leonor Patrícia Cerdeira; O’Gorman, Eoin J.; Trøjelsgaard, Kristian; Tylianakis, Jason M.; Vidal, Mariana Morais; Woodward, Guy; Olesen, Jens M.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-396992-7.00002-2

Cited by 339 publications

(356 citation statements)

References 583 publications

(791 reference statements)

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“…Trophic position in food webs is often positively correlated with body size, rarity, and home-range size (Rooney et al 2008). These interrelated traits have been associated with higher extinction risks in smaller and more variable habitats due to stochastic events (Ewers andDidham 2006, Laurance et al 2011) and could be one reason for the more frequent loss of predators from ecosystems, compared with lower trophic levels (Didham et al 1998, Srivastava et al 2008, Holt 2009, Hagen et al 2012). In addition, predators depend on the presence of their prey, and the resulting requirement of prior colonization of habitat patches by lower trophic levels may strengthen area effects on higher trophic levels further, especially for specialist predators (trophic rank hypothesis; Holt et al 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominant predators mediate the impact of habitat size on trophic structure in bromeliad invertebrate communities

Petermann

Farjalla

Jocqué

et al. 2015

Ecology

129

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Abstract. Local habitat size has been shown to influence colonization and extinction processes of species in patchy environments. However, species differ in body size, mobility, and trophic level, and may not respond in the same way to habitat size. Thus far, we have a limited understanding of how habitat size influences the structure of multitrophic communities and to what extent the effects may be generalizable over a broad geographic range. Here, we used water-filled bromeliads of different sizes as a natural model system to examine the effects of habitat size on the trophic structure of their inhabiting invertebrate communities. We collected composition and biomass data from 651 bromeliad communities from eight sites across Central and South America differing in environmental conditions, species pools, and the presence of large-bodied odonate predators. We found that trophic structure in the communities changed dramatically with changes in habitat (bromeliad) size. Detritivore : resource ratios showed a consistent negative relationship with habitat size across sites. In contrast, changes in predator : detritivore (prey) ratios depended on the presence of odonates as dominant predators in the regional pool. At sites without odonates, predator : detritivore biomass ratios decreased with increasing habitat size. At sites with odonates, we found odonates to be more frequently present in large than in small bromeliads, and predator : detritivore biomass ratios increased with increasing habitat size to the point where some trophic pyramids became inverted. Our results show that the distribution of biomass amongst food-web levels depends strongly on habitat size, largely irrespective of geographic differences in environmental conditions or detritivore species compositions. However, the presence of largebodied predators in the regional species pool may fundamentally alter this relationship between habitat size and trophic structure. We conclude that taking into account the response and multitrophic effects of dominant, mobile species may be critical when predicting changes in community structure along a habitat-size gradient.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominant predators mediate the impact of habitat size on trophic structure in bromeliad invertebrate communities

Petermann

Farjalla

Jocqué

et al. 2015

Ecology

129

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“…Ecological networks are key factors for biodiversity protection and enhancement because of their ability to counteract fragmentation and create and strengthen relationships and exchanges among isolated elements [7]. The construction of ecological networks can effectively connect broken habitat patches and form spatially integrated landscapes and habitat networks that improve the quality of natural ecosystems [8][9][10][11]. Ecological network tools play a central role in landscape planning [4,12] and can serve as an approach to promoting ecological and functional integration [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis and Planning of Ecological Networks Based on Kernel Density Estimations for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region in Northern China

Zhang

et al. 2016

Sustainability

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Abstract:With the continued social and economic development of northern China, landscape fragmentation has placed increasing pressure on the ecological system of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region. To maintain the integrity of ecological processes under the influence of human activities, we must maintain effective connections between habitats and limit the impact of ecological isolation. In this paper, landscape elements were identified based on a kernel density estimation, including forests, grasslands, orchards and wetlands. The spatial configuration of ecological networks was analysed by the integrated density index, and a natural breaks classification was performed for the landscape type data and the results of the landscape spatial distribution analysis. The results showed that forest and grassland are the primary constituents of the core areas and act as buffer zones for the region's ecological network. Rivers, as linear patches, and orchards, as stepping stones, form the main body of the ecological corridors, and isolated elements are distributed mainly in the plain area. Orchards have transition effects. Wetlands act as connections between different landscapes in the region. Based on these results, we make suggestions for the protection and planning of ecological networks. This study can also provide guidance for the coordinated development of the BTH region.

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“…grazing by cows from surrounding agricultural land [28]. Such examples highlight how fragmentation might affect ecological networks through trophic cascades (reviewed in [29]; see also [30]). …”

Section: (C) Community Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation to fragmentation: evolutionary dynamics driven by human influences

Cheptou

Hargreaves

Bonte

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

146

153

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One contribution of 18 to a theme issue 'Human influences on evolution, and the ecological and societal consequences'. Fragmentation-the process by which habitats are transformed into smaller patches isolated from each other-has been identified as a major threat for biodiversity. Fragmentation has well-established demographic and population genetic consequences, eroding genetic diversity and hindering gene flow among patches. However, fragmentation should also select on life history, both predictably through increased isolation, demographic stochasticity and edge effects, and more idiosyncratically via altered biotic interactions. While species have adapted to natural fragmentation, adaptation to anthropogenic fragmentation has received little attention. In this review, we address how and whether organisms might adapt to anthropogenic fragmentation. Drawing on selected case studies and evolutionary ecology models, we show that anthropogenic fragmentation can generate selection on traits at both the patch and landscape scale, and affect the adaptive potential of populations. We suggest that dispersal traits are likely to experience especially strong selection, as dispersal both enables migration among patches and increases the risk of landing in the inhospitable matrix surrounding them. We highlight that suites of associated traits are likely to evolve together. Importantly, we show that adaptation will not necessarily rescue populations from the negative effects of fragmentation, and may even exacerbate them, endangering the entire metapopulation.This article is part of the themed issue 'Human influences on evolution, and the ecological and societal consequences'.

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Biodiversity, Species Interactions and Ecological Networks in a Fragmented World

Cited by 339 publications

References 583 publications

Dominant predators mediate the impact of habitat size on trophic structure in bromeliad invertebrate communities

Dominant predators mediate the impact of habitat size on trophic structure in bromeliad invertebrate communities

Analysis and Planning of Ecological Networks Based on Kernel Density Estimations for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region in Northern China

Adaptation to fragmentation: evolutionary dynamics driven by human influences

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