Habitat selection is an active behavioral process that may vary across spatial and temporal scales. Animals choose an area of primary utilization (i.e., home range) then make decisions focused on resource needs within patches. Dominance may affect the spatial distribution of conspecifics and concomitant habitat selection. Size-dependent social dominance hierarchies have been documented in capti...

Habitat corridors confer many conservation benefits by increasing movement of organisms between habitat patches, but the benefits for some species may exact costs for others. For example, corridors may increase the abundance of consumers in a habitat to the detriment of the species they consume. In this study we assessed the impact of corridors on insect herbivory of a native plant, Solanum ame...

Several factors contribute to the extinction of populations in fragmented habitat but key ones include habitat loss and disruptions to connectivity. Aspects of the ecology of greater gliders (Petauroides volans), along with observations of their response to native forest clearance at a site in southeastern Australia, lead to the prediction in the 1960s that the species would not persist in the ...

Due to anthropogenic pressures, African lion (Panthera leo) populations in Kenya and Tanzania are increasingly limited to fragmented populations. Lions living on isolated habitat patches exist in a matrix of less-preferred habitat. A framework of habitat patches within a less-suitable matrix describes a metapopulation. Metapopulation analysis can provide insight into the dynamics of each popula...

Among the most popular strategies for maintaining populations of both plants and animals in fragmented landscapes is to connect isolated patches with thin strips of habitat, called corridors. Corridors are thought to increase the exchange of individuals between habitat patches, promoting genetic exchange and reducing population fluctuations. Empirical studies addressing the effects of corridors...

Understanding the evolution of density-dependent dispersal strategies has been a major challenge for evolutionary ecologists. Some existing models suggest that selection should favour positive and others negative density-dependence in dispersal. Here, we develop a general model that shows how and why selection may shift from positive to negative density-dependence in response to key ecological ...

Metapopulation theory is one of the most popular approaches to identify the factors affecting the spatial and temporal dynamics of populations in fragmented habitat networks. Habitat quality, patch area and isolation are mainly focused on when analyzing distribution patterns in fragmented landscapes. The effects of landscape heterogeneity in the non-occupied matrix, however, have been largely n...

To avoid extinction of rare species in regions of active environmental change, strategic approaches are needed to manage remaining habitat. When observations of dispersal or metapopulation information are not available, habitat connectivity simulations may offer a valuable alternative source of information to assess threats and evaluate conservation options. For the Critically Endangered San Ma...

We investigated habitat selection using singleand mixed-scale modeling at 2 spatial scales, stand and home range, by the only known population of American martens (Martes americana) remaining in the historical range of the Humboldt subspecies (M. a. humboldtensis) in California, USA. During 2000 and 2001, we sampled a 12 3 14 grid with 2-km spacing, using 2 sooted track plates at each grid poin...

Demographic bottlenecks that occur when populations fluctuate in size erode genetic diversity, but that diversity can be recovered through immigration. Connectivity among populations and habitat patches in the landscape enhances immigration and should in turn facilitate recovery of genetic diversity after a sudden reduction in population size. For the conservation of genetic diversity, it may t...