Habitat loss, not fragmentation, drives occurrence patterns of Canada lynx at the southern range periphery.

ABSTRACT: Peripheral populations often experience more extreme environmental conditions than those in the centre of a species' range. Such extreme conditions include habitat loss, defined as a reduction in the amount of suitable habitat, as well as habitat fragmentation, which involves the breaking apart of habitat independent of habitat loss. The 'threshold hypothesis' predicts that organisms will be more affected by habitat fragmentation when the amount of habitat on the landscape is scarce (i.e., less than 30%) than when habitat is abundant, implying that habitat fragmentation may compound habitat loss through changes in patch size and configuration. Alternatively, the 'flexibility hypothesis' predicts that individuals may respond to increased habitat disturbance by altering their selection patte

SUBMITTER: Hornseth ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4234637 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature