Sacrificing patches for linear habitat elements enhances metapopulation performance of woodland birds in fragmented landscapes Export

@article{citeulike:3819191, abstract = {Abstract\ \ It is generally assumed that large patches of natural habitat are better for the survival of species than the same amount of habitat in smaller fragments or linear elements like hedges and tree rows. We use a spatially explicit individual-based model of a woodland bird to explore this hypothesis. We specifically ask whether mixtures of large, small and linear habitat elements are better for population performance than landscapes that consist of only large elements. With equal carrying capacity, metapopulations perform equally or better in heterogeneous landscape types that are a mix of linear, large and small habitat elements. We call this increased metapopulation performance of large and small elements ” synergy”. These mixed conditions are superior because the small linear elements facilitate dispersal while patches secure the population in the long run because they have a lower extinction risk. The linear elements are able to catch and guide dispersing animals which results in higher connectivity between patches leading to higher metapopulation survival. Our results suggest that landscape designers should not always seek to conserve and create larger units but might better strive for more variable landscapes with mixtures of patch sizes and shapes. This is especially important when smaller units play a key role in connecting patches and dispersal through the matrix is poor.}, author = {Schippers, Peter and Grashof-Bokdam, Carla and Verboom, Jana and Baveco, Johannes and Jochem, Ren\'{e} and Meeuwsen, Henk and Van Adrichem, Marjolein}, citeulike-article-id = {3819191}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-008-9313-9}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www.springerlink.com/content/p13662745185941v}, doi = {10.1007/s10980-008-9313-9}, journal = {Landscape Ecology}, keywords = {-, birds, design, dispersal, elements, hedgerows, landscape, linear, metapopulation, patch, size, sloss, synergy, woodland}, posted-at = {2009-01-06 05:59:00}, priority = {2}, title = {Sacrificing patches for linear habitat elements enhances metapopulation performance of woodland birds in fragmented landscapes}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-008-9313-9} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3819191 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3819191 N2 - Abstract  It is generally assumed that large patches of natural habitat are better for the survival of species than the same amount of habitat in smaller fragments or linear elements like hedges and tree rows. We use a spatially explicit individual-based model of a woodland bird to explore this hypothesis. We specifically ask whether mixtures of large, small and linear habitat elements are better for population performance than landscapes that consist of only large elements. With equal carrying capacity, metapopulations perform equally or better in heterogeneous landscape types that are a mix of linear, large and small habitat elements. We call this increased metapopulation performance of large and small elements “synergy”. These mixed conditions are superior because the small linear elements facilitate dispersal while patches secure the population in the long run because they have a lower extinction risk. The linear elements are able to catch and guide dispersing animals which results in higher connectivity between patches leading to higher metapopulation survival. Our results suggest that landscape designers should not always seek to conserve and create larger units but might better strive for more variable landscapes with mixtures of patch sizes and shapes. This is especially important when smaller units play a key role in connecting patches and dispersal through the matrix is poor. JF - Landscape Ecology TI - Sacrificing patches for linear habitat elements enhances metapopulation performance of woodland birds in fragmented landscapes KW - - KW - birds KW - design KW - dispersal KW - elements KW - hedgerows KW - landscape KW - linear KW - metapopulation KW - patch KW - size KW - sloss KW - synergy KW - woodland AU - Schippers, Peter AU - Grashof-Bokdam, Carla AU - Verboom, Jana AU - Baveco, Johannes AU - Jochem, René AU - Meeuwsen, Henk AU - Van Adrichem, Marjolein UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-008-9313-9 ER -