M. Bevers et Ch. Flather, Numerically exploring habitat fragmentation effects on populations using cell-based coupled map lattices, THEOR POP B, 55(1), 1999, pp. 61-76
We examine habitat size, shape, and arrangement effects on populations usin
g a discrete reaction-diffusion model. Diffusion is modeled passively and a
pplied to a cellular grid of territories forming a coupled map lattice. Dis
persal mortality is proportional to the amount of nonhabitat and fully occu
pied habitat surrounding a given cell, with distance decay. After verifying
that our model produces the results expected for single patches of uniform
habitat, we investigate heterogeneous and fragmented model landscapes. In
heterogeneous single-patch systems near critical patch size, populations ap
proach Gaussian spatial distributions with total population constrained by
the capacity of the most limiting cell. In fragmented habitat landscapes, t
hreshold effects are more complex and parametrically sensitive. The results
from our experiments suggest the following: the ability to achieve persist
ence in hyper-dispersed patchy habitats by adding similarly fragmented patc
hes requires meeting threshold reproduction rates; persistent metapopulatio
ns in which no local population is individually persistent appear when disp
ersal distances and reproduction rates are both high, but only within narro
w parameter ranges that are close to extinction thresholds; successful use
of stepping-stone patches to support metapopulation systems appears unlikel
y for passively diffusing species; elongated patches offer early colonizati
on advantages, but blocky patches offer greater population resilience near
extinction thresholds. A common theme running through our findings is that
population viability estimates may depend on our ability to determine when
population and habitat systems are approaching extinction threshold conditi
ons, (C) 1999 Academic Press.