-We studied the effects of forest patch size and habitat characteristics on breeding success of Scarlet Tanagers (Piranga olivacea) in western New York in 1995 and 1996. Twenty forest stands were grouped into four size classes: Group I (<10 ha, n = 6), Group 11 (10 to 50 ha, n = 7), Group III (>50 to 150 ha, n = 5), and Group IV (>1,000 ha, n = 2). Group I, II, and III sites were habitat patche...

Many studies of metapopulation models assume that spatially extended populations occupy a network of identical habitat patches, each coupled to its nearest neighbouring patches by density-independent dispersal. Much previous work has focused on the temporal stability of spatially homogeneous equilibrium states of the metapopulation, and one of the main predictions of such models is that the sta...

This study links spatial and seasonal patterns of mortality of the hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria (L.), in marine soft bottoms with the predation rates and habitat use of its main predator, the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun. Patterns of predation on tethered juvenile clams exposed to the natural assemblage of predators were compared among different habitat types in fall and summer. B...

Complex, human-dominated landscapes provide unique challenges to animals. In landscapes fragmented by human activity, species whose home ranges ordinarily consist of continuous habitat in pristine environments may be forced to forage among multiple smaller habitat patches embedded in an inhospitable environment. Furthermore, foragers often must decide whether to traverse a heterogeneous suite o...

Mistletoes are aerial hemiparasitic plants which occupy patches of favorable habitat (host trees) surrounded by unfavorable habitat and may be possibly modeled as a metapopulation. A metapopulation is defined as a subdivided population that persists due to the balance between colonization and extinction in discrete habitat patches. Our aim was to evaluate the dynamics of the mistletoe Psittacan...

-Bull trout Salvelinus confluentus and other salmonids in the Pacific Northwest are believed at risk of local and regional extinctions because of ongoing habitat loss and fragmentation . Biologists have focused on defining and protecting critical stream channel characteristics, but there is little information regarding the scale or spatial geometry of habitat that may be necessary for the speci...

Encroachment of tall grasses and shrubs in coastal dunes has resulted in loss of vegetation heterogeneity. This is expected to have negative effects on animal diversity. To counteract encroachment and develop structural heterogeneity grazing is a widely used management practice. Here, we aim to functionally interpret changes in vegetation composition and configuration following grazing manageme...

According to conceptual models, the distribution of resources plays a critical role in determining how organisms distribute themselves near habitat edges. These models are frequently used to achieve a mechanistic understanding of edge effects, but because they are based predominantly on correlative studies, there is need for a demonstration of causality, which is best done through experimentati...

The Ideal Free Distribution (IFD), introduced by Fretwell and Lucas in [Fretwell, D.S., Lucas, H.L., 1970. On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds. Acta Biotheoretica 19, 16-32] to predict how a single species will distribute itself among several patches, is often cited as an example of an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). By defining the strategi...

Maintaining and restoring landscape connectivity is currently a central concern in ecology and biodiversity conservation, and there is an increasing demand of user-driven tools for integrating connectivity in landscape planning. Here we describe the new Conefor Sensinode 2.2 (CS22) software, which quantifies the importance of habitat patches for maintaining or improving functional landscape con...