Connected fragmented habitats facilitate stable coexistence dynamics

Authored by George Kampis, Istvan Karsai

Date Published: 2011

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.11.002

Sponsors: No sponsors listed

Platforms: NetLogo

Model Documentation: ODD Flow charts

Model Code URLs: http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/community/HabitatFragmentation

Abstract

In this paper we endeavor to test the controversial ideas that exist about the role of fragmentation in a conservation context. In line with earlier understanding, we find that habitat fragmentation alone results in a strong detrimental effect (especially for the predator population). Connecting the fragmented habitats facilitates predator survival and hence prey survival as compared to the unconnected fragmented case. Our main result is counterintuitive: in the presence of a high quality predator, connected fragmented habitats ensure a better chance for coexistence than does even the unfragmented case. We explain why a connected fragmented habitat might thus be beneficial for the stabilization of the system, and how connections between sub-habitats are able to protect prey population from over-exploitation. In the model, habitat fragmentation is separated from the effects of habitat destruction, in order to better understand how populations react to habitat transformation. (C) 2010 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.

Tags

Conservation Dispersal Predators Corridors