How does temporal variation in habitat connectivity influence metapopulation dynamics?

Perry, George L.; Lee, Finnbar

doi:10.1111/oik.06052

Cited by 30 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(84 reference statements)

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“…Although some recent studies highlighted the importance of accounting for temporal aspects in connectivity modeling (Alagador et al 2014, Mui et al 2017, only a few of them accounted for dispersal processes over generations (Saura et al 2014, de la Fuente et al 2018, the variation in importance of habitat patches in maintaining connectivity due to seasonal habitat change (Mui et al 2017, Bishop-Taylor et al 2018, or the implications of ephemeral patches and transient connectivity change in metapopulation dynamics (Reigada et al 2015, Perry andLee 2019). Yet, the importance of temporal dynamics of habitat patches has largely been ignored (Blonder et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of spatio–temporal connectivity to maintain species experiencing range shifts

et al. 2020

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Climate change can affect the habitat resources available to species by changing habitat quantity, suitability and spatial configuration, which largely determine population persistence in the landscape. In this context, dispersal is a central process for species to track their niche. Assessments of the amount of reachable habitat (ARH) using static snap‐shots do not account, however, for the temporal overlap of habitat patches that may enhance stepping‐stone effects. Here, we quantified the impacts of climate change on the ARH using a spatio–temporal connectivity model. We first explored the importance of spatio–temporal connectivity relative to purely spatial connectivity in a changing climate by generating virtual species distributions and analyzed the relative effects of changes in habitat quantity, suitability and configuration. Then, we studied the importance of spatio–temporal connectivity in three vertebrate species with divergent responses to climate change in North America (grey wolf, Canadian lynx and white‐tailed deer). We found that the spatio–temporal connectivity could enhance the stepping‐stone effect for species predicted to experience range contractions, and the relative importance of the spatio–temporal connectivity increased with the reduction in habitat quantity and suitability. Conversely, for species that are likely to expand their ranges, spatio–temporal connectivity had no additional contribution to improve the ARH. We also found that changes in habitat amount (quantity and suitability) were more influential than changes in habitat configuration in determining the relative importance of spatio–temporal connectivity. We conclude that spatio–temporal connectivity may provide less biased and more realistic estimates of habitat connectivity than purely spatial connectivity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of spatio–temporal connectivity to maintain species experiencing range shifts

et al. 2020

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“…Time-averaging the landscape matrix sequence of patchy habitats, as in the static SPOM, cannot adequately estimate metapopulation temporal dynamics. Interpreting whether metapopulations can cope with chronic small perturbations and recover from infrequent large shocks [ 11 ], it requires an understanding of transient habitat conditions and dynamic suitability and connectivity in patchy habitats. Understanding the sensitivity of metapopulation survival to these perturbations induced by variability in hydroclimatic parameters ( figure 2 ) is also useful to predict their trajectories under climate change scenarios of increased droughts [ 47 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While much research has focused on the spatial dimensions of patch connectivity [ 6 , 9 , 10 ], also incorporating its temporal component is essential [ 11 ]. Dynamic patchy landscapes are characterized by episodic windows of habitat suitability and accessibility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic spatio-temporal patterns of metapopulation occupancy in patchy habitats

et al. 2021

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Spatio-temporal dynamics in habitat suitability and connectivity among mosaics of heterogeneous wetlands are critical for biological diversity and species persistence in aquatic patchy landscapes. Despite the recognized importance of stochastic hydroclimatic forcing in driving wetlandscape hydrological dynamics, linking such effects to emergent dynamics of metapopulation poses significant challenges. To fill this gap, we propose here a dynamic stochastic patch occupancy model (SPOM), which links parsimonious hydrological and ecological models to simulate spatio-temporal patterns in species occupancy in wetlandscapes. Our work aims to place ecological studies of patchy habitats into a proper hydrologic and climatic framework to improve the knowledge about metapopulation shifts in response to climate-driven changes in wetlandscapes. We applied the dynamic version of the SPOM (D-SPOM) framework in two wetlandscapes in the US with contrasting landscape and climate properties. Our results illustrate that explicit consideration of the temporal dimension proposed in the D-SPOM is important to interpret local- and landscape-scale patterns of habitat suitability and metapopulation occupancy. Our analyses show that spatio-temporal dynamics of patch suitability and accessibility, driven by the stochasticity in hydroclimatic forcing, influence metapopulation occupancy and the topological metrics of the emergent wetlandscape dispersal network. D-SPOM simulations also reveal that the extinction risk in dynamic wetlandscapes is exacerbated by extended dry periods when suitable habitat decreases, hence limiting successful patch colonization and exacerbating metapopulation extinction risks. The proposed framework is not restricted only to wetland studies but could also be applied to examine metapopulation dynamics in other types of patchy habitats subjected to stochastic external disturbances.

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“…The loss and fragmentation of habitat lead to a decrease in habitat connectivity, impeding the movement of individuals between patches [6,7]. This dispersal is crucial for species survival, as it facilitates interaction such as the exchange of genes between different populations and thus allows for the existence of metapopulations-a "population of populations" [8][9][10]. As a consequence of the constantly intensifying climate and land-use change, it is important for species conservation that we particularly try to preserve and improve habitat connectivity by creating dispersal corridors increasing a landscape's permeability [11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximising the clustering coefficient of networks and the effects on habitat network robustness

et al. 2020

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The robustness of networks against node failure and the response of networks to node removal has been studied extensively for networks such as transportation networks, power grids, and food webs. In many cases, a network's clustering coefficient was identified as a good indicator for network robustness. In ecology, habitat networks constitute a powerful tool to represent metapopulations or-communities, where nodes represent habitat patches and links indicate how these are connected. Current climate and land-use changes result in decline of habitat area and its connectivity and are thus the main drivers for the ongoing biodiversity loss. Conservation efforts are therefore needed to improve the connectivity and mitigate effects of habitat loss. Habitat loss can easily be modelled with the help of habitat networks and the question arises how to modify networks to obtain higher robustness. Here, we develop tools to identify which links should be added to a network to increase the robustness. We introduce two different heuristics, Greedy and Lazy Greedy, to maximize the clustering coefficient if multiple links can be added. We test these approaches and compare the results to the optimal solution for different generic networks including a variety of standard networks as well as spatially explicit landscape based habitat networks. In a last step, we simulate the robustness of habitat networks before and after adding multiple links and investigate the increase in robustness depending on both the number of added links and the heuristic used. We found that using our heuristics to add links to sparse networks such as habitat networks has a greater impact on the clustering coefficient compared to randomly adding links. The Greedy algorithm delivered optimal results in almost all cases when adding two links to the network. Furthermore, the robustness of networks increased with the number of additional links added using the Greedy or Lazy Greedy algorithm.

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How does temporal variation in habitat connectivity influence metapopulation dynamics?

Cited by 30 publications

References 52 publications

Importance of spatio–temporal connectivity to maintain species experiencing range shifts

Importance of spatio–temporal connectivity to maintain species experiencing range shifts

Dynamic spatio-temporal patterns of metapopulation occupancy in patchy habitats

Maximising the clustering coefficient of networks and the effects on habitat network robustness

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