Collaborative Research: Patches, Corridors, and Dispersal of Insects and Plants: Scaling up from Local Experiments to Large Complex Landscapes

9907365哈达德克服生境破碎化的负面影响的最流行的策略之一是将原本孤立的斑块与走廊联系起来。然而，走廊促进动植物运动并增加其种群规模的假设（保护生物学的核心原则）实际上尚未得到验证。这些研究人员将开展大规模的走廊对植物和动物的影响实验，并确定走廊作为人类主导景观保护工具的有效性。这项研究将在南卡罗来纳州的萨凡纳河生态实验室与美国林务局合作进行。本研究的主要目标有三个：1)验证廊道增加连通斑块之间移动的假设；2)验证廊道增加连通斑块中动植物丰度的假设；3)验证廊道在该地区森林经营活动规模上增加较少隔离斑块物种丰度的假设。利用野外实验数据，pi将参数化基于gis的模拟模型，以确定人类主导景观中走廊的价值。这些研究在实验和管理景观中的综合结果将产生最深远、最明确的走廊对植物和动物种群的影响，以及它们与破碎景观保护的相关性。

9907365HaddadOne of the most popular strategies to overcome the negative effects of habitat fragmentation is to link otherwise isolated patches with corridors. However, the assumption that corridors facilitate plant and animal movement and increase their population sizes, a central tenet of conservation biology, has been virtually untested. These investigators will conduct large scale experiments of corridor effects on plants and animals, and determine the efficacy of corridors as conservation tools in human dominated landscapes. The study will occur in cooperation with the US Forest Service at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in South Carolina. The study has three primary objectives: 1) to test the hypothesis that corridors increase movement between connected patches, 2) to test the hypothesis that corridors increase plant and animal abundances in connected patches, and 3) to test the hypothesis that corridors increase species abundances in less isolated patches on the scale of forest management activities in this region. Using data from the field experiments, the PIs will parameterize GIS-based simulation models to determine the value of corridors in human dominated landscapes. The combined results of these studies in experimental and managed landscapes will generate the most far-reaching, definitive test of corridor effects on plant and animal populations, and their relevance to conservation in fragmented landscapes.