Responses of Metapopulation Dynamics to Two Different Kinds of Habitat Destruction Caused by Human Activities |
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Authors: | H Y Liu Z S Lin T Wen |
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Institution: | (1) College of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210097, P. R. China;(2) Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Ecological Construction, Nanjing, 210097, P. R. China |
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Abstract: | Habitat destruction can be classified into instantaneous destruction and continuous destruction by the different ways of human
destroying habitat. Previous studies, however, always focused on instantaneous destruction. In this study, we develop a universal
model, Multi-time scale N-species model, to study and compare the responses of metapopulation dynamics to both kinds of habitat
destruction. The model explores that: (1) under instantaneous habitat destruction, species extinction is determined by the
proportion of habitat destruction (D) and the structure of metapopulation (q). When D>q, species will go extinct ranked from the best competitor to the worst. When D≤ q, no species will go extinct, but the equilibrium abundances of odd-ranked competitors will decrease, and the equilibrium
abundances of even-ranked competitors will increase; (2) under continuous destruction, species extinction is dependent on
the speed of habitat destruction and the metapopulation structure. The higher the speed of habitat destruction and the bigger
q are, the earlier species go extinct. Usually, there are two possible mechanisms of species extinction: one is that all species
go extinct collectively following complete destruction, and the other is that species go extinct in ranked competitive order
from best to worst, and the survivals, if they exist, will go extinct collectively following complete destruction. The oscillation
amplitudes of inferior competitors are so large as to increase the probability of stochastic extinction under instantaneous
destruction. Therefore, it is relatively propitious for the persistence of rare species under slow and continuous destruction,
especially when continuous destruction stops. |
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Keywords: | Continuous destruction Extinction Instantaneous destruction Multi-time scale Persistence |
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