Matrix quality and disturbance frequency drive evolution of species behavior at habitat boundaries.

ABSTRACT: Previous theoretical studies suggest that a species' landscape should influence the evolution of its dispersal characteristics, because landscape structure affects the costs and benefits of dispersal. However, these studies have not considered the evolution of boundary crossing, that is, the tendency of animals to cross from habitat to nonhabitat ("matrix"). It is important to understand this dispersal behavior, because of its effects on the probability of population persistence. Boundary-crossing behavior drives the rate of interaction with matrix, and thus, it influences the rate of movement among populations and the risk of dispersal mortality. We used an individual-based, spatially explicit model to simulate the evolution of boundary crossing in response to landscape structure. Our sim

SUBMITTER: Martin AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4717347 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature