Integrating movement ecology with biodiversity research - exploring new avenues to address spatiotemporal biodiversity dynamics

Abstract

Movement of organisms is one of the key mechanisms shaping biodiversity, e.g. the distribution of genes, individuals and species in space and time. Recent technological and conceptual advances have improved our ability to assess the causes and consequences of individual movement, and led to the emergence of the new field of ‘movement ecology’. Here, we outline how movement ecology can contribute to the broad field of biodiversity research, i.e. the study of processes and patterns of life among and across different scales, from genes to ecosystems, and we propose a conceptual framework linking these hitherto largely separated fields of research. Our framework builds on the concept of movement ecology for individuals, and demonstrates its importance for linking individual organismal movement with biodiversity. First, organismal movements can provide ‘mobile links’ between habitats or ecosystems, thereby connecting resources, genes, and processes among otherwise separate locations. Understanding these mobile links and their impact on biodiversity will be facilitated by movement ecology, because mobile links can be created by different modes of movement (i.e., foraging, dispersal, migration) that relate to different spatiotemporal scales and have differential effects on biodiversity. Second, organismal movements can also mediate coexistence in communities, through ‘equalizing’ and ‘stabilizing’ mechanisms. This novel integrated framework provides a conceptual starting point for a better understanding of biodiversity dynamics in light of individual movement and space-use behavior across spatiotemporal scales. By illustrating this framework with examples, we argue that the integration of movement ecology and biodiversity research will also enhance our ability to conserve diversity at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels.

sOAR: a tool for modelling optimal animal life‐history strategies in cyclic environments

“…Overall, such analyses will contribute to better understanding the different constraints on movement and behaviour of individuals and the consequences for population and community dynamics (Nathan et al 2008, Jeltsch et al 2013.…”

Generation and cessation of oscillations: Interplay of excitability and dispersal in a class of ecosystems

“…Long term persistence of ecosystem functioning and community structure involve the collective dynamics of species distribution and subsequently, to shape the biodiversity, organisms movement plays important role 37 . As every organism depends on the other for their resource in most of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, while dispersal of the consumer takes place for favorable conditions, passive dispersal happens in the resource also (i.e., instead of moving, it's being moved either directly or indirectly).…”

Coupling movement and landscape ecology for animal conservation in production landscapes

“…Finally, although aspects of animal movement have long featured in landscape ecology through metapopulation theory [27], the landscape of fear [28], perceptual range [29] and matrix effects [30], these concepts are mostly considered in isolation. There have been few attempts to integrate animal behaviour and landscape modification through the unified framework of movement ecology (but see [6,7,31]), especially in an applied sense [32,33]. These developments enable novel insights into the internal and external drivers of animal movement, and provide the opportunity to improve the way landscapes are managed for animal conservation.…”