Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 199-209 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Landscape ecology |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
In fragmented landscapes, plant species persistence depends on functional connectivity in terms of pollen flow to maintain genetic diversity within populations, and seed dispersal to re-colonize habitat patches following local extinction. Connectivity in plants is commonly modeled as a function of the physical distance between patches, without testing alternative dispersal vectors. In addition, pre- and post-dispersal processes such as seed production and establishment are likely to affect patch colonization rates. Here, we test alternative models of potential functional connectivity with different assumptions on source patch effects (patch area and species occupancy) and dispersal (relating to distance among patches, matrix composition, and sheep grazing routes) against empirical patch colonization rates at the community level (actual functional connectivity), accounting for post-dispersal effects in terms of structural elements providing regeneration niches for establishment. Our analyses are based on two surveys in 1989 and in 2009 of 48 habitat specialist plants in 62 previously abandoned calcareous grassland patches in the Southern Franconian Alb in Bavaria, Germany. The best connectivity model S i, as identified by multi-model inference, combined distance along sheep grazing routes including consistently and intermittently grazed patches with mean species occupancy in 1989 as a proxy for pre-dispersal effects. Community-level patch colonization rates depended to equal degrees on connectivity and post-dispersal process. Our study highlights that actual functional connectivity of calcareous grassland communities cannot be approximated by structural connectivity based on physical distance alone, and modeling of functional connectivity needs to consider pre- and post-dispersal processes.
Keywords
- Colonization rates, Dispersal vector, Germany, Incidence function model, Regeneration niches, Species occupancy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Environmental Science(all)
- Ecology
- Environmental Science(all)
- Nature and Landscape Conservation
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Landscape ecology, Vol. 27, No. 2, 02.2012, p. 199-209.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Determinants of actual functional connectivity for calcareous grassland communities linked by rotational sheep grazing
AU - Rico, Yessica
AU - Boehmer, Hans Juergen
AU - Wagner, Helene H.
N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC Discovery Grant; H. Wagner), the National Council on Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT; Y. Rico), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; Y. Rico), and the Government of Central Franconia (baseline survey). We thank Karlheinz Dadrich, Doris Baumgartner, Bernd Raab Stefanie Haacke, Jens Sachteleben, and the shepherds Erich Beil, Erich Neulinger, and Alfred Grimm for valuable information, Henry Lehnert for management data collection, Hawthorne Bayer for GIS support, Marie-Josee Fortin, and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, and the Landscape Genetics Working Group supported by NCEAS, a Center funded by NSF (Grant #EF-0553768), the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the State of California.
PY - 2012/2
Y1 - 2012/2
N2 - In fragmented landscapes, plant species persistence depends on functional connectivity in terms of pollen flow to maintain genetic diversity within populations, and seed dispersal to re-colonize habitat patches following local extinction. Connectivity in plants is commonly modeled as a function of the physical distance between patches, without testing alternative dispersal vectors. In addition, pre- and post-dispersal processes such as seed production and establishment are likely to affect patch colonization rates. Here, we test alternative models of potential functional connectivity with different assumptions on source patch effects (patch area and species occupancy) and dispersal (relating to distance among patches, matrix composition, and sheep grazing routes) against empirical patch colonization rates at the community level (actual functional connectivity), accounting for post-dispersal effects in terms of structural elements providing regeneration niches for establishment. Our analyses are based on two surveys in 1989 and in 2009 of 48 habitat specialist plants in 62 previously abandoned calcareous grassland patches in the Southern Franconian Alb in Bavaria, Germany. The best connectivity model S i, as identified by multi-model inference, combined distance along sheep grazing routes including consistently and intermittently grazed patches with mean species occupancy in 1989 as a proxy for pre-dispersal effects. Community-level patch colonization rates depended to equal degrees on connectivity and post-dispersal process. Our study highlights that actual functional connectivity of calcareous grassland communities cannot be approximated by structural connectivity based on physical distance alone, and modeling of functional connectivity needs to consider pre- and post-dispersal processes.
AB - In fragmented landscapes, plant species persistence depends on functional connectivity in terms of pollen flow to maintain genetic diversity within populations, and seed dispersal to re-colonize habitat patches following local extinction. Connectivity in plants is commonly modeled as a function of the physical distance between patches, without testing alternative dispersal vectors. In addition, pre- and post-dispersal processes such as seed production and establishment are likely to affect patch colonization rates. Here, we test alternative models of potential functional connectivity with different assumptions on source patch effects (patch area and species occupancy) and dispersal (relating to distance among patches, matrix composition, and sheep grazing routes) against empirical patch colonization rates at the community level (actual functional connectivity), accounting for post-dispersal effects in terms of structural elements providing regeneration niches for establishment. Our analyses are based on two surveys in 1989 and in 2009 of 48 habitat specialist plants in 62 previously abandoned calcareous grassland patches in the Southern Franconian Alb in Bavaria, Germany. The best connectivity model S i, as identified by multi-model inference, combined distance along sheep grazing routes including consistently and intermittently grazed patches with mean species occupancy in 1989 as a proxy for pre-dispersal effects. Community-level patch colonization rates depended to equal degrees on connectivity and post-dispersal process. Our study highlights that actual functional connectivity of calcareous grassland communities cannot be approximated by structural connectivity based on physical distance alone, and modeling of functional connectivity needs to consider pre- and post-dispersal processes.
KW - Colonization rates
KW - Dispersal vector
KW - Germany
KW - Incidence function model
KW - Regeneration niches
KW - Species occupancy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84856231771&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10980-011-9648-5
DO - 10.1007/s10980-011-9648-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84856231771
VL - 27
SP - 199
EP - 209
JO - Landscape ecology
JF - Landscape ecology
SN - 0921-2973
IS - 2
ER -