Coherence and conservation

A principal aim of current conservation policy is to reduce the impact of h abitat fragmentation. Conservation corridors may achieve this goal by facil itating movement among isolated patches, but there is a risk that increased connectivity could synchronize Local population fluctuations (causing cohe rent oscillations) and thereby increase the danger of global extinction, We identify general conditions under which populations can or cannot undergo coherent oscillations, and we relate these conditions to Local and global e xtinction probabilities. We suggest a simple method to explore the potentia l success of conservation corridors and, more generally, any manipulations of dispersal patterns that aim to protect threatened species or control pes ts.