Spatial Heterogeneity in Habitat Quality and Cross-Scale Interactions in Metapopulations

Abstract Integration of habitat heterogeneity into spatially realistic metapopulation approaches reveals the potential for key cross-scale interactions. Broad-scale environmental gradients and land-use practices can create autocorrelation of habitat quality of suitable patches at intermediate spatial scales. Patch occupancy then depends not only on habitat quality at the patch scale but also on feedbacks from surrounding neighborhoods of autocorrelated patches. Metapopulation dynamics emerge from how demographic and dispersal processes interact with relevant habitat heterogeneity. We provide an empirical example from a metapopulation of round-tailed muskrats (Neofiber alleni) in which habitat quality of suitable patches was spatially autocorrelated most strongly within 1,000 m, which was within the expected dispersal range of the species. After controlling for factors typically considered in metapopulation studies—patch size, local patch quality, patch connectivity—we use a cross-variogram analysis to demonstrate that patch occupancy by muskrats was correlated with habitat quality across scales ≤1,171 m. We also discuss general consequences of spatial heterogeneity of habitat quality for metapopulations related to potential cross-scale interactions. We focus on spatially correlated extinctions and metapopulation persistence, hierarchical scaling of source–sink dynamics, and dispersal decisions by individuals in relation to information constraints.     

The color of noise and the evolution of dispersal

The process of dispersal is vital for the long-term persistence of all species and hence is a ubiquitous characteristic of living organisms. A present challenge is to increase our understanding of the factors that govern the dispersal rate of individuals. Here I extend previous work by incorporating both spatial and temporal heterogeneity in terms of patch quality into a spatially explicit lattice model. The spatial heterogeneity is modeled as a two-dimensional fractal landscape, while temporal heterogeneity is included by using one-dimensional noise. It was found that the color of both the spatial and temporal variability influences the rate of dispersal selected as reddening of the temporal noise leads to a reduction in dispersal, while reddening of spatial variability results in an increase in the dispersal rate. These results demonstrate that the color of environmental noise should be considered in future studies looking at the evolution of life history characteristics.     

辽东山区次生林木本植物空间分布

森林木本植物的空间格局有助于揭示群落结构的形成机制与潜在的生态学过程,且对林分经营具有一定指导意义。在0—50 m尺度范围内综合分析了辽东山区4 hm2温带次生林样地多度10的树种空间格局。研究发现:(1)在完全随机零模型下,大部分树种呈现聚集格局,聚集格局树种的比例随尺度增加而降低;在32 m的较大尺度下,随尺度增加,随机和规则格局成为树种分布的主要形式;(2)在异质性泊松过程零模型下,55.9%的树种呈现随机格局,其余大部分树种在10 m的尺度下呈现聚集格局,且随尺度增加,规则格局成为主要形式;(3)在完全随机零模型下,树种属性(林层、径级和多度)显著地影响种群聚集度,而在异质性泊松过程零模型下,树种属性对种群聚集度不存在显著影响。综上,生境异质性、扩散限制和树种属性部分解释了辽东山区次生林木本植物空间分布格局,相对而言,生境异质性的效应更为突出。研究结果有助于揭示次生林群落生物多样性的维持机制。     

木林子保护区优势种翅柃种群结构与空间分布格局

该研究以湖北木林子保护区优势种翅柃(Eurya alata)为研究对象,编制静态生命表,绘制存活曲线、死亡率和消失率曲线;采用成对相关函数分析各龄级的空间分布特征,双变量成对相关函数分析不同生活史阶段间的空间关系,为阐明木林子保护区常绿落叶阔叶混交林不同构建规律在物种多样性维持机制中的作用提供理论参考。结果显示:(1)翅柃属增长型种群,存活曲线趋于Deevey-Ⅱ型,死亡率和消失率曲线呈单峰型。(2)翅柃Ⅰ～Ⅴ龄级呈现聚集分布且随径级增加而减弱,Ⅵ、Ⅶ龄级在较大尺度上随机分布。(3)在完全随机零模型下,各生活史阶段均呈空间正关联;在先决条件零模型下,成年树与幼树、小树小尺度上呈无关联和负关联,其余生活史阶段间呈正关联,较大尺度上无关联。研究表明,翅柃种群幼树个体丰富,更新状态良好,在自然演替过程中,生境过滤、扩散限制和密度制约均可能驱动种群的构建过程。     

黄土高原油松和辽东栎林下植物β多样性差异及影响因素

β多样性是生态学研究的热点论题,相同的β多样性格局可能由不同的生态过程所决定.该文通过构建零假说模型和典范变异分解的方法,比较了黄土高原油松人工林(Form.Pinus tabulaeformis)和辽东栎天然林(Form.Quercus wutaishanica)林下植物群落β多样性,确定了环境过滤和扩散限制在β多样...     

Local biodiversity and multi-habitat use in empidoid flies (Insecta: Diptera, Empidoidea)

The empidid fauna of four small adjacent biotopes bordering a pond was investigated for 2 consecutive years in Brittany (France). Adult activity was studied using yellow water traps, whereas suitable larval habitats were determined using emergence traps. While 24 species emerged from the soils, 45 flew above the four sites. The number of species emerging from each site was nearly identical. However, the highest number of individuals emerged from the heathland and numbers rapidly declined towards the pond banks. On the contrary, the greatest aerial activity occurred in the woodlot and near the pond banks. Fourteen times less flying activity was found above the dry heathland. The latter appeared to be a site of larval growth but mating and feeding of the adults took place in the woodlot. Reproduction sites and space used by the adults differed among the dominant species. The species assemblage could not be fully explained within the spatial limits of the four sites. Considering the species'behaviour, it is suggested that immigration of species and individuals from other sites should explain these differences. The study, which is supported by four other research works, emphasizes the role of key resource played by ecotonal zones between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in the persistence of species over a larger set of habitats. Considering the complementarity of habitats is essential to explain diversity patterns in species which need different space units to complete their life-cycle.     

Limited evolutionary rescue of locally adapted populations facing climate change

Dispersal is a key determinant of a population''s evolutionary potential. It facilitates the propagation of beneficial alleles throughout the distributional range of spatially outspread populations and increases the speed of adaptation. However, when habitat is heterogeneous and individuals are locally adapted, dispersal may, at the same time, reduce fitness through increasing maladaptation. Here, we use a spatially explicit, allelic simulation model to quantify how these equivocal effects of dispersal affect a population''s evolutionary response to changing climate. Individuals carry a diploid set of chromosomes, with alleles coding for adaptation to non-climatic environmental conditions and climatic conditions, respectively. Our model results demonstrate that the interplay between gene flow and habitat heterogeneity may decrease effective dispersal and population size to such an extent that substantially reduces the likelihood of evolutionary rescue. Importantly, even when evolutionary rescue saves a population from extinction, its spatial range following climate change may be strongly narrowed, that is, the rescue is only partial. These findings emphasize that neglecting the impact of non-climatic, local adaptation might lead to a considerable overestimation of a population''s evolvability under rapid environmental change.     

Evolution of habitat-dependent sex allocation in plants: superficially similar to, but intrinsically different from animals

Because pollen disperses and ovules do not, a basic difference in dispersal abilities of male and female gametes exists in plants. With an analytical model, we show that the combination of such sex-biased dispersal of gametes and variation of habitat quality results in two opposite selective forces acting on the evolution of sex allocation in plants: (i) a plant should overproduce pollen in good patches and overproduce ovules in poor patches in order to equilibrate secondary sex ratios of gametes after pollen dispersal; (ii) a plant should overproduce ovules in good patches and overproduce pollen in poor patches in order to increase the likelihood that its progeny establishes in good patches. Our theoretical results indicate that the evolution of habitat-dependent sex allocation should be favoured in plants, in a direction that depends on the relative dispersal ability of pollen and seeds. We also show that superficially similar predictions obtained for habitat-dependent evolutionarily stable sex allocation in animals actually result from a completely different balance between the two underlying evolutionary forces.     

Root vole movement patterns: do ditches function as habitat corridors?

1. Ditches are often connected to root vole habitat patches (i.e. moist reed patches) in the Netherlands. Due to the linear structure of ditches and because ditch habitat is qualitatively similar to root vole habitat patches, we hypothesized that ditches could function as habitat corridors facilitating dispersal movement of root voles. In order to test this hypothesis, we radiotracked root voles released in a landscape novel to them, consisting of ditches and agricultural meadows.
2. Agricultural meadows often surround the marsh patches inhabited by root voles. As the meadows are mowed regularly, we included the length of the meadow vegetation as an experimental factor in the study.
3. Assuming that ditches function as habitat corridors, we expected root voles in the ditches to move faster and more unidirectionally than root voles in the meadows, and to prefer the ditches to meadows.
4. We found that the ditches did not facilitate faster movements than the meadows. Although the root voles moved back and forth within the ditches, they showed a more directional movement pattern than the root voles in the meadows. Furthermore, the root voles preferred the ditch habitat irrespective of the vegetative cover in the meadow.
5. We conclude that ditches could function as habitat corridors for root voles, as they preferred to move in ditches when in unfamiliar areas.