The conflicting role of matrix habitats as conduits and barriers for dispersal.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Determining connectivity within complex landscapes is difficult if habitats that facilitate dispersal differ from habitats where animals normally are found or enter. We addressed the question of how landscape features affect dispersal by quantifying two critical aspects of animal movement behavior that determine dispersal rates across complex landscapes: conductivity of major habitat types and behavior at boundaries between habitat types. Our tests consisted of behavioral experiments and observational surveys of a wetland butterfly, Satyrodes appalachia. Displacement rates varied among habitats, with the longest moves and straightest paths leading to greater displacement rate in open habitat and shortest moves and most sinuous paths causing the slowest displacement rate in riparian forest habitat. We found a strong negative relationship between the probability of entering a habitat and the speed of moving through it. Recognizing this central conflict between entering and moving through habitat is important for assessing the connectivity of complex landscapes.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Kuefler, D; Hudgens, B; Haddad, NM; Morris, WF; Thurgate, N
Published Date
- April 2010
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 91 / 4
Start / End Page
- 944 - 950
PubMed ID
- 20462109
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1939-9170
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0012-9658
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1890/09-0614.1
Language
- eng