Why are metapopulations so rare?

Fronhofer, Emanuel A.; Kubisch, Alexander; Hilker, Frank M.; Hovestadt, Thomas; Poethke, Hans Joachim

doi:10.1890/11-1814.1

Cited by 83 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Movement patterns along the mountain ridge of over 30 km underline the possibility that individual birds may move between all subpopulations and, hence, maintain gene flow across the entire landscape (up to 85 km). In contrast, populations in the Black Forest (Braunisch et al 2010) and Bavarian Alps (Segelbacher et al 2003a, b) revealed signatures for spatial structure at scales of only 10 km (Sachot et al 2006;Storch 1993Storch , 1995Storch and Segelbacher 2000; but see Fronhofer et al 2012;Segelbacher et al 2008). In the Bavarian Alps, the highly fragmented landscape with unsuitable farmland and pastures between subpopulations is regarded as the main reason for the genetic isolation (Segelbacher et al 2003a, b;.…”

Section: Spatial and Genetic Population Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Noninvasive genetic sampling allows estimation of capercaillie numbers and population structure in the Bohemian Forest

et al. 2014

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Wildlife conservation and management of endangered species requires reliable information on the size and structure of populations. One of the flagship species in European wildlife conservation is the forest-dwelling capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), where several populations are endangered. In the Bohemian Forest, e.g., the population severely declined 30 years ago with only 100 birds remaining in 1985. Subsequently, breeding and release programs were conducted to supplement the local population. The current distribution and population size, however, remained unknown. With recent habitat changes and increasing recreational activities, a reliable population estimate to inform conservation plans was needed. A team of scientists and volunteers collected fresh capercaillie droppings covering an area of about 120,000 ha. We genotyped ten microsatellite loci to estimate the current population size and to determine the population's spatial and genetic structure.Population size and density estimators revealed a population size of approximately 500 individuals, which is thus one of the two largest relict populations in the low mountain ranges of temperate Europe. The population clustering revealed gene flow across the entire study area. Several genotypes were documented with multiple recaptures at spatial distances between 10 and 30 km additionally corroborating gene flow across the entire landscape of the study area. Males were more closely related than females on small spatial scales up to 3 km, indicating lower dispersal rates in males. We conclude that the population currently appears to have a viable size and shows unrestricted gene flow across state borders and management units of the entire Bohemian Forest. However, long-term viability of this population requires a transboundary strategy to sustainably protect and monitor this isolated capercaillie population in Central Europe.

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Section: Spatial and Genetic Population Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Noninvasive genetic sampling allows estimation of capercaillie numbers and population structure in the Bohemian Forest

et al. 2014

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“…True metapopulations carry high extinction risks for individual patches and are relatively uncommon in nature; however, the term usefully describes many spatially structured populations (Fronhofer et al 2012). The consideration of genetically connected populations as metapopulations and the promotion of functional connectivity among habitat patches are important for conserving populations scattered among, or restricted to, isolated habitat patches (Wahlberg et al 1996, Gibbs 2000, Wiens 2002.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of reserves and anthropogenic habitats for functional connectivity and resilience of ephemeral wetlands

Uden

Hellman

Angeler

et al. 2014

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. Ecological reserves provide important wildlife habitat in many landscapes, and the functional connectivity of reserves and other suitable habitat patches is crucial for the persistence and resilience of spatially structured populations. To maintain or increase connectivity at spatial scales larger than individual patches, conservation actions may focus on creating and maintaining reserves and/or influencing management on non-reserves. Using a graph-theoretic approach, we assessed the functional connectivity and spatial distribution of wetlands in the Rainwater Basin of Nebraska, USA, an intensively cultivated agricultural matrix, at four assumed, but ecologically realistic, anuran dispersal distances. We compared connectivity in the current landscape to the historical landscape and putative future landscapes, and evaluated the importance of individual and aggregated reserve and non-reserve wetlands for maintaining connectivity. Connectivity was greatest in the historical landscape, where wetlands were also the most densely distributed. The construction of irrigation reuse pits for water storage has maintained connectivity in the current landscape by replacing destroyed wetlands, but these pits likely provide suboptimal habitat. Also, because there are fewer total wetlands (i.e., wetlands and irrigation reuse pits) in the current landscape than the historical landscape, and because the distribution of current wetlands is less clustered than that of historical wetlands, larger and longer dispersing, sometimes nonnative species may be favored over smaller, shorter dispersing species of conservation concern. Because of their relatively low number, wetland reserves do not affect connectivity as greatly as non-reserve wetlands or irrigation reuse pits; however, they likely provide the highest quality anuran habitat. To improve future levels of resilience in this wetland habitat network, management could focus on continuing to improve the conservation status of non-reserve wetlands, restoring wetlands at spatial scales that promote movements of shorter dispersing species, and further scrutinizing irrigation reuse pit removal by considering effects on functional connectivity for anurans, an emblematic and threatened group of organisms. However, broader conservation plans will need to give consideration to other wetland-dependent species, incorporate invasive species management, and address additional challenges arising from global change in social-ecological systems like the Rainwater Basin.

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“…To guide our analyses, we conceived of rats in the Falklands as a metapopulation in which island sub-populations are linked by dispersal, and in which the presence of rats is determined by the balance between colonization and extinction among islands (Fronhoffer et al 2012). Following this classical view of metapopulations (Levins 1969(Levins , 1970, we hypothesized that the presence of rats would decrease with distance from the nearest island with rats, the island presumably functioning as a reservoir and source of rats (for the purposes of this manuscript, we use "source" to describe any island on which rats are present).…”

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confidence: 99%

Modeling the distribution of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) on offshore islands in the Falkland Islands

Tabak¹,

Poncet²,

Passfield³

et al. 2015

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Non-native rats (Rattus spp.) threaten native island species worldwide. Efforts to eradicate them from islands have increased in frequency and become more ambitious in recent years. However, the long-term success of some eradication efforts has been compromised by the ability of rats, particularly Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) which are good swimmers, to recolonize islands following eradications. In the Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, the distance of 250 m between islands (once suggested as the minimum separation distance for an effective barrier to recolonization) has shown to be insufficient. Norway rats are present on about half of the 503 islands in the Falklands. Bird diversity is lower on islands with rats and two vulnerable passerine species, Troglodytes cobbi (the only endemic Falkland Islands passerine) and Cinclodes antarcticus, have greatly reduced abundances and/or are absent on islands with rats. We used logistic regression models to investigate the potential factors that may determine the presence of Norway rats on 158 islands in the Falkland Islands. Our models included island area, distance to the nearest rat-infested island, island location, and the history of island use by humans as driving variables. Models best supported by data included only distance to the nearest potential source of rats and island area, but the relative magnitude of the effect of distance and area on the presence of rats varied depending on whether islands were in the eastern or western sector of the archipelago. The human use of an island was not a significant parameter in any models. A very large fraction (72%) of islands within 500 m of the nearest potential rat source had rats, but 97% of islands farther than 1,000 m away from potential rat sources were free of rats.

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Why are metapopulations so rare?

Cited by 83 publications

References 85 publications

Noninvasive genetic sampling allows estimation of capercaillie numbers and population structure in the Bohemian Forest

Noninvasive genetic sampling allows estimation of capercaillie numbers and population structure in the Bohemian Forest

The role of reserves and anthropogenic habitats for functional connectivity and resilience of ephemeral wetlands

Modeling the distribution of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) on offshore islands in the Falkland Islands

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