Dispersal movement through fragmented landscapes: the role of stepping stones and perceptual range

Rocha, Érika Garcez da; Brigatti, Edgardo; Niebuhr, Bernardo Brandão; Ribeiro, Milton Cézar; Vieira, Marcus Vinícius

doi:10.1007/s10980-021-01310-x

Cited by 46 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…Roads, urbanized areas, or areas with a lack of stepping stones in weakly permeable matrices are currently one of the biggest threats to wildlife biodiversity, as the installation of such structures causes fragmentation and loss of natural habitats [1][2][3] leading to a decrease in available resources (e.g., food, shelter, mate). In order to meet their basic needs, animals will attempt to cross these areas and, if a road is in the way, this may lead to their death.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shall the Wild Boar Pass? A Genetically Assessed Ecological Corridor in the Geneva Region

et al. 2022

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Landscape fragmentation caused by road infrastructures represents a major threat to the genetic diversity of a region. The resulting genetic isolation between subpopulations may lead to consanguinity, and consequently to population collapse and extinction. However, the construction of wildlife crossings can help maintain connectivity. In the present paper, we evaluated the genetic spatial structuring of populations of wild boars (Sus scrofa) in three areas of the Geneva region connected by an ecological corridor. Those areas are cut off either by a highway that is crossed by a wildlife overpass or by an anthropized sector. Genetic profiling with 9 nuclear microsatellite markers yielded 61 single profiles, which allowed for clustering, parentage, and linkage disequilibrium analyses, uncovering the populations’ genetic structure. We also evaluated whether the genetic structure was affected by the sex of individuals. In our analyses, all individuals clustered into a single genetic group, suggesting that no structure limited significantly the gene flow in the region. However, a recent admixture indicated a potential increase in the gene flow between two of the subpopulations due to the wildlife overpass, while the other part of the ecological corridor was not or was only partially functional. Genetic distances between males were significantly higher than between females, although the role of sex remains unclear as to its influence on population genetics. Finally, in order to avoid a subregion becoming fully isolated, urbanization planning should consider this genetic evaluation and proceed with further monitoring, especially by focusing on species more sensitive to landscape fragmentation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shall the Wild Boar Pass? A Genetically Assessed Ecological Corridor in the Geneva Region

et al. 2022

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“…We exemplified how an interdisciplinary approach that integrates field studies, movement ecology and individual-based simulation modelling can be applied to solve a specific problem in landscape ecology (Teckentrup et al 2019;Rocha et al 2021), and to better understand and quantify potential impacts of land-use changes on long-term population dynamics (Rustigian et al 2003;Alderman et al 2005;Schumaker et al 2014;Synes et al 2016). Such an understanding is needed for providing suitable solutions in proactive landscape planning and population management.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Problems seeded in the past: lagged effects of historical land-use changes can cause an extinction debt in long-lived species due to movement limitation

et al. 2022

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Context Land-use change is one of the main threats to biodiversity on the global scale. Legacy effects of historical land-use changes may affect population dynamics of long-lived species, but they are difficult to evaluate through observational studies alone. We present here an interdisciplinary modelling approach as an alternative to address this problem in landscape ecology. Objectives Assess effects of agricultural abandonment and anthropisation on the population dynamics of long-lived species. Specifically, we evaluated: (a) how changes in movement patterns caused by land-use change might impact population dynamics; (b) time-lag responses of demographic variables in relation to land-use changes. Methods We applied an individual-based and spatial-explicit simulation model of the spur-tighed tortoise (Testudo graeca), an endangered species, to sequences of real-world landscape changes representing agricultural abandonment and anthropisation at the local scale. We analysed different demographic variables and compared an “impact scenario” (i.e., historical land-use changes) with a “control scenario” (no land-use changes). Results While agricultural abandonment did not lead to relevant changes in demographic variables, anthropisation negatively affected the reproductive rate, population density and the extinction probability with time-lag responses of 20, 30 and 130 years, respectively, and caused an extinction debt of 22%. Conclusions We provide an understanding of how changes in animal movement driven by land-use changes can translate into lagged impacts on demography and, ultimately, on population viability. Implementation of proactive mitigation management are needed to promote landscape connectivity, especially for long-lived species for which first signatures of an extinction debt may arise only after decades.

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“…Isolated trees also increase spatial heterogeneity and forest connectivity allowing enhanced species dispersal by acting as stepping stones for mobile and tree-dependent species such as bats (Fischer and Lindenmayer, 2002;Manning et al, 2009;Rocha et al, 2021). Most bat species are highly dependent on woody elements such as forest edges, woodlands, hedgerows and scattered trees which confer navigational reference during commuting, and also provide shelter from wind and protection from predators within the agricultural matrix (Frey-Ehrenbold et al, 2013;Fuentes-Montemayor et al, 2013;Kalda et al, 2015;Lacoeuilhe et al, 2018;Froidevaux et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree size, microhabitat diversity and landscape structure determine the value of isolated trees for bats in farmland

Froidevaux

Laforge

Larrieu

et al. 2022

Biological Conservation

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Dispersal movement through fragmented landscapes: the role of stepping stones and perceptual range

Cited by 46 publications

References 101 publications

Shall the Wild Boar Pass? A Genetically Assessed Ecological Corridor in the Geneva Region

Shall the Wild Boar Pass? A Genetically Assessed Ecological Corridor in the Geneva Region

Problems seeded in the past: lagged effects of historical land-use changes can cause an extinction debt in long-lived species due to movement limitation

Tree size, microhabitat diversity and landscape structure determine the value of isolated trees for bats in farmland

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