Spatial Heterogeneity in Habitat Quality and Cross-Scale Interactions in Metapopulations |
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Authors: | Robert L Schooley Lyn C Branch |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA;(2) Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA |
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Abstract: | 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. |
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Keywords: | dispersal habitat heterogeneity metapopulation source-sink spatial autocorrelation |
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