The effect of dispersal on population growth with stage-structure

Declines in species richness or population are primarily attributed to habi tat destruction and fragmentation. Can we avoid the local extinction of spe cies with stage-structure in some patches by building some corridors betwee n the patches and controlling the dispersal rates? A conservation strategy is put forward by introducing and analyzing the asymptotic behavior of some autonomous and time-varying population models. Biological implications of these results are discussed briefly. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.