Optimisation Model of Dispersal Simulations on a Dendritic Habitat Network

Abstract

To predict and mitigate biodiversity loss, a better understanding of species distribution and reliable dispersal models are required. A promising approach in dispersal simulation is the method of spatially explicit graph-based analysis. While graph theory is strongly connected to the field of optimisation in a variety of disciplines, the potential of optimisation has not yet been exploited in dispersal models. We introduce an optimisation model built on a graph-based dispersal simulation of an aquatic invertebrate species with a terrestrial life stage. The model simulates a directed dispersal process and investigates the fastest route to colonise predefined vacant habitat patches. The optimisation model run-time is in general an order of magnitude faster than the underlying simulation and provides the minimum time until the considered habitat patches are colonised under the given landscape structure. These results can then be used to estimate how fast newly formed habitat patches can be reached and colonised. Our model can in principle be adapted to other simulation models and can thus be seen as a pioneer of a new set of models that may support landscape conservation and restoration.

Biodiversity conservation through the lens of metacommunity ecology

“…As more metacommunity modeling platforms become available, 203–206 we expect them to be increasingly operationalized in applied ecology and biodiversity conservation. Applications include explorations of how biodiversity can respond to global change 207 —for example, to predict food web structure, 208 extinction of native species as a consequence of biological invasions, 209 community stability and extinction risk in marine ecosystems, 210 or colonization in aquatic dendritic networks 211 . Likewise, they include more applied contexts in which metacommunity models are used to predict biodiversity patterns in the design of biological reserves and management of land use and biodiversity incentive schemes 212,213 …”

“…Applications include explorations of how biodiversity can respond to global change 207 -for example, to predict food web structure, 208 extinction of native species as a consequence of biological invasions, 209 community stability and extinction risk in marine ecosystems, 210 or colonization in aquatic dendritic networks. 211 Likewise, they include more applied contexts in which metacommunity models are used to predict biodiversity patterns in the design of biological reserves and management of land use and biodiversity incentive schemes. 212,213 As this is intended to be an overview of metacommunity ecology and its relevance to conservation biology, it is beyond our scope to devise new theory.…”

Halophytes Dispersion Patterns and Soil Salinity Concentration Across the Egyptian North-Western Mediterranean Coast

“…Some places are already more vulnerable to climate impact such as the coastal areas as the conditions like sea level rise will increase the risk of flooding and erosion around the coasts in addition to the warmer temperature that affected the phenology and distribution of species, and the dynamics of communities. These conditions have advanced to the point where whole communities have to relocate and therefore entail long-distance dispersal of the plant species to survive (Trakhtenbrot et al, 2005, Fagherazzi et al, 2019, Heer et al, 2019, Smith, 2020, Goetz, 2021. In the paleolithic records, there are a sherd of evidence that the dispersal is an adaptive trait which can be rapid enough to track climate change (Hamilton andMay, 1977, Pitelka andGroup, 1997).…”