Modeling habitat split: landscape and life history traits determine amphibian extinction thresholds.

ABSTRACT: Habitat split is a major force behind the worldwide decline of amphibian populations, causing community change in richness and species composition. In fragmented landscapes, natural remnants, the terrestrial habitat of the adults, are frequently separated from streams, the aquatic habitat of the larvae. An important question is how this landscape configuration affects population levels and if it can drive species to extinction locally. Here, we put forward the first theoretical model on habitat split which is particularly concerned on how split distance - the distance between the two required habitats - affects population size and persistence in isolated fragments. Our diffusive model shows that habitat split alone is able to generate extinction thresholds. Fragments occurring between the

SUBMITTER: Fonseca CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3688573 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature