Metapopulation ecology advanced article saskya van. Metapopulation ecology has gained significance as we confront landscapes that are increasingly fragmented. Conservation biology, habitat fragmentation, and metapopulations. Timescale is on the scale of the colonisation and extinction, local dynamics are. Metapopulation biology explains how the dynamics, longterm survival and evolution of species are affected by habitat fragmentation.
A metapopulation approach to african lion panthera leo. The metapopulation capacity should find many applications in metapopulation ecology, landscape ecology and conservation biology. A practical example of this, for example, is the approach to species conservation suggested by metapopulation theory e. Since ecology refers to any form of biodiversity, ecologists research everything from tiny bacterias role in nutrient. Ilkka hanski, professor in the department of ecology and systematics ilkka hanski. Time lags in metapopulation responses to landscape change. Accessible to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, metapopulation ecology will be a valuable resource for researchers in population biology, conservation biology, and landscape ecology. This volume gives an excellent survey of the field with a careful account of both strengths and weaknesses of the approach. We end by identifying knowledge gaps that prevent broader applications of metapopulation models and by providing general research approaches for. Ecologists are challenged to construct models of the biological consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation. Metapopulation ecology of vancouver island marmots marmota vancouverensis supervisor.
Biochemical techniques theory and practice pdf files. Po box 17, arkadiankatu 7, fin00014 university of helsinki, finland. These spatially separated populations interact as individual members move from one. Metapopulation theory in conservation 3rs of ecology. Although pure metapopulations may be rare, there are many empirical studies in which metapopulation processes, primarily local colonisation and extinction, have been useful in explaining dynamics of natural, managed and experimental systems. The theory suggests that populations of species are interconnected with individuals migrating from population to population. The metapopulation biology and evolutionary ecology of these bacterial systems, in these. Metapopulation ecology ilkka hanski oxford series in ecology and evolution. Many organisms have to face largescale habitat destruction and fragmentation of. Metapopulation ecology is used in conservation biology and in population genetics where it influences genetic structure, the rate and trajectory of evolution and even what traits are under selection. Use a computer model based on metapopulation theory to become familiar with and understand how populations interact within a metapopulation. Connectivity, cycles, and persistence thresholds in. Rather than track individual organisms through time, a metapopulation approach tracks the occupancy of habitat patches through time. Metapopulation ecology uc berkeley college of natural.
With the many exciting developments in modern network theory, interest in these issues has recently come to the forefront in a range of multidisciplinary areas. Metapopulation ecology saskya van nouhuys, university of helsinki, helsinki, finland a metapopulation is a spatially structured population that persists over time as a set of local populations in balance between local extinction and colonization. A framework of habitat patches within a lesssuitable matrix describes a metapopulation. Several ecological processes characterise metapopulations. Metapopulation biology is concerned with the dynamic consequences of migration among local populations and the conditions of regional persistence of species with unstable local populations. Island biogeography and metapopulation dynamics of bahamian ants lloyd w. Metapopulation, in ecology, a regional group of connected populations of a species. Metapopulation and its applications in conservation biology. Models in landscape ecology use detailed descriptions of landscape structure, but often without considering colonization and extinction dynamics.
Pdf a metapopulation is a spatially structured population that persists over time as a set of local populations with limited dispersal between them find, read. Written by a world renowned biologist, this volume offers a comprehensive synthesis of current research in this rapidly expanding area of. A metapopulation is a population of populations distributed in discrete habitat patches that are linked by occasional dispersal. Metapopulation ecology ilkka hanski, professor in the. Due to anthropogenic pressures, african lion panthera leo populations in kenya and tanzania are increasingly limited to fragmented populations. Hanski, metapopulation research group, dept of ecology and systematics. Metapopulation ecology of vancouver island marmots. Specifically, metapopulation models are often used to model spatial dynamics within local populations. The important contribution of metapopulation theory, or of studying the regional dynamics of a population, is that it makes possible prediction of the total population size of a species within a landscape or large region.
The metapopulation biology and evolutionary ecology of these bacterial systems, in these synthetic ecosystems, can be addressed using experimental biophysics. A metapopulation is a group of populations that are separated by space but consist of the same species. A network of subpopulations, most of whose members stay within their respective landscape patches, but some whom move among other patches or mate with members of other patches. Ecoevolutionary metapopulation dynamics and the spatial. The metapopulation capacity of a fragmented landscape nature. Landscape ecologists tend to analyse the structure of complex real landscapes, with less emphasis on modelling population dynamics. It presents the incidence function model and includes several detailed examples of its application. The large metapopulation of the glanville fritillary butterfly melitaea cinxia in the aland islands. For a given species, each metapopulation is continually being modified by increases births and immigrations and decreases deaths and emigrations of individuals, as well as by the emergence and dissolution of local populations contained within it. Metapopulation models have been used to explain lifehistory evolution, such as the ecological stability of amphibian metamorphosis in small vernal ponds.
Our results shed light on the relative importance of dispersal ability and habitat turnover spatial structure on the components of time. Apes chapter 5 environmental systems and ecosystem ecology. Several chapters closely integrate ecology with genetics and evolutionary biology, and others illustrate how metapopulation concepts and models can be. Metapopulation ecology nouhuys major reference works. Assignments refer to inclass activities or due dates for other course assignments. Percy bysshe shelley 17921822, loves philosophy introduction wherever wildlife management concerns the. A classic example of a metapopulation is that of the glanville fritillary butterfly in the. Use of metapopulation models in conservation planning. An emerging discipline to study metapopulation ecology david g. Written by a world renowned biologist, this volume offers a comprehensive synthesis of current research in this rapidly expanding area of population biology. It covers both the essential theory and a wide range of empirical studies, including the authors groundbreaking.
We apply the model to a metapopulation of the butterfly melitaea diamina with 14 local populations, 557 marked individuals, and 1 recaptures. Metapopulation ecology ilkka hanski oxford university. The kind of metapopulation approach depicted in fig. As a possible cause of this allee effect at the metapopulation level, amarasekare. Metapopulation in the metapopulation concept, the distribution of a species defined by the dashed line is composed of a group of sub or local populations red circles that are linked by dispersal movement of individuals represented by arrows. Metapopulation ecology concerns organisms that are dependent upon discrete patches of suitable habitat. Instead, the development of metapopulation ecology has re. Background important drivers of the loss of biodiversity. Ecology, genetics and evolution of metapopulations 1st. Ecology, genetics and evolution of metapopulations is acollection of specially commissioned articles that looks at fragmented habitats, bringing together recent theoretical advances and empirical studies applying the metapopulation approach.
Department of ecology and evolution, university of lausanne, ch1015 lausanne, switzerland. Lions living on isolated habitat patches exist in a matrix of lesspreferred habitat. Metapopulationdynamics ecology and evolutionary biology. Readings refer to chapters in economy of nature 7th edition, authors. The model is suitable for studies involving 10 or more populations, with differences in habitat patch areas and isolation, and in which several hundred individuals have been marked and recaptured. In recent times more than before, human populations expand and require larger areas for agriculture and other landuse goals, often at the expense of natural ecosystems. On optimal size and number of reserves for metapopulation. The simple metapopulation model did not do a good job of predicting the patch occupancy of these butterflies. Metapopulation ecology metapopulation ecology, ilkka hanski oxford series in ecology and evolution, issn 17463. This idea has great conservation potential as species populations are becoming. Timescale is on the scale of the colonisation and extinction.
All things, by a law divine, in one anothers being mingle. View notes biol 410 lecture topic 6 metapopulations. Even without local extinctions, metapopulation structure has implications for abundance of local populations, as well as those populations age, size, and. Is the metapopulation concept applicable to the north sea. But ecology isnt just the study of species diversity, and species diversity is affected by more than just two variables. Increasing connectivity between metapopulation ecology and.
Metapopulation ecology ilkka hanski oxford university press. Dispersal and the metapopulation paradigm in amphibian. A metapopulation consists of a group of spatially separated populations of the same species. An r package for simulating metapopulation dynamics and. Metalandsim represents virtual and real landscapes as graphs, and it uses spoms to simulate metapopulation. The ecological theory of metapopulations is becoming increasingly important in understanding how to protect species threatened with extinction. There were probably fewer than 100 marmots in 1998, with 90%. Habitat connectivity, habitat continuity, and metapopulations. Ilkka hanski is in the department of ecology and systematics, division of. Starting in 1969, and accelerating since the early 1990s, mathematical models of metapopulations. The population surveys show more populations going extinct each year than are being colonized, and therefore predicts that the whole metapopulation should collapse. Ecosystems describe the web or network of relations among organisms at different scales of organization.
644 1354 1503 551 761 1305 1442 764 30 480 815 835 1123 1056 1005 1289 504 218 1146 1207 936 10 1216 87 976 810 746 470 36 924 1476 370 1089 1065 868 487 324 385