Linking movement of individuals with population-level responses to habitat loss and fragmentation

栖息地的迁移将大的、连续的栖息地变成更小的、支离破碎的栖息地。对于许多物种来说，小生境不如大生境适合，而且随着生境的消失，当地灭绝的风险也会增加。一些物种表现出种群规模较小的适应性降低的现象（也称为Allee效应），并且特别面临栖息地减少的风险，因为栖息地减少将导致种群规模较小，适应性较低。例如，南方飞鼠（Glaucomys volans）在冬季作为一个群体筑巢，以减少每只松鼠暴露在环境温度下的表面积。如果松鼠的冬季存活率与巢群大小呈正相关，那么这些松鼠在较小的群体中将有较高的冬季死亡率，并且在小栖息地中有局部灭绝的风险。该研究计划涉及测试动物行为，栖息地迁移和灭绝风险之间的关系。我们将使用巢箱实验来操纵冬季飞鼠巢群的大小，以测试群体大小是否与生存有关。我们还将在不同大小的栖息地对飞鼠进行实地调查，以测试以下预测：存在阈值最小栖息地面积，使得飞鼠由于Allee效应而不能占据较小的栖息地;最小栖息地面积阈值随冬季温度的严重程度而变化（例如，随纬度）。

Habitat removal turns large, contiguous habitats into smaller, fragmented ones. For many species small habitats are less suitable than large ones, and the risk of local extinction is increased as habitat is removed. Some species exhibit a phenomenon of lowered fitness with smaller population size (also called an Allee effect), and are especially at risk from habitat removal since less habitat will result in smaller populations with lower fitness. For example, southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) nest as a group during winter in order to reduce the amount of surface area that each squirrel exposes to ambient temperatures. If winter survival of squirrels is positively related to nest group size, then these squirrels will have higher winter mortality in smaller groups, and be at risk of local extinctions in small habitats. This research program involves testing for the relationships between animal behaviour, habitat removal, and extinction risk. We will be using a nest box experiment to manipulate the size of flying squirrel nest groups during winter, to test whether group size is related to survival. We will also undertake field surveys of flying squirrels in habitats of different sizes to test the predictions that: there is a threshold minimum habitat area, such that flying squirrels can not occupy smaller habitats because of an Allee effect; and the minimum habitat area threshold varies with the severity of winter temperatures (for example, with latitude).