We study a reaction-diffusion model in a binary environment made of habitat and non-habitat regions. Environmental heterogeneity is expressed through the species intrinsic growth rate coefficient. It was known that, for a fixed habitat abundance, species survival depends on habitat arrangements. Our goal is to describe the spatial configurations of habitat that maximise the chances of survival....

We study a reaction-diffusion model in a binary environment made of habitat and non-habitat regions. Environmental heterogeneity is expressed through the species intrinsic growth rate coefficient. It was known that, for a fixed habitat abundance, species survival depends on habitat arrangements. Our goal is to describe the spatial configurations of habitat that maximise the chances of survival....

The response of ground-dwelling spider assemblages to edges created by wildfire was compared to their response to clear-cut edges in black spruce forests in eastern Canada. For each disturbance six edge transects 100 m long were established. Spiders were collected with pitfall traps 10 m apart from 50 m inside the disturbances to 50 m in the forest interior. Measurements of the forest floor str...

Spatial patterns in trait variation reflect underlying community assembly processes, allowing us to test hypotheses about their trait and environmental drivers by identifying the strongest correlates of characteristic spatial patterns. For 43 evergreen tree species (> 1 cm dbh) in a 20-ha seasonal tropical rainforest plot in Xishuangbanna, China, we compared the ability of drought-tolerance tra...

—Variation in habitat suitability can alter the growth and mortality of early life stages of fishes but is often difficult to measure, quantify, and apply to the entire system. We designed and tested habitat suitability index (HSI) models incorporating both proximate riverine parameters and surrounding landscape features as determinates of optimal spawning and nursery areas for American shad Al...

In studies of forest fragmentation, birds of scrubby, early-successional habitats are considered edge specialists. Because these birds are assumed to thrive in fragmented, edge-dominated areas, their landscape ecology has received little attention from ecologists. With populations of shrubland birds declining throughout the eastern United States, the question of whether or not these birds reall...

We developed an assessment and monitoring plan for birds in connection with the exploration and potential development of a large natural gas field in the Lower Urubamba drainage of Peru, a project of Shell Prospecting and Development Peru (SPDP). Our objectives were to: (1) inventory the birds in the area, including information on habitat use and abundance, and (2) devise long-term monitoring p...

Large-river floodplains have been subjected to profound human-caused alteration, but subsequent effects on landbirds in these habitats are largely unknown. To assess the extent to which landscape measures might serve as ecological indicators in these systems, we examined patterns of habitat use by forest birds along a 380-km stretch of the Wisconsin River, USA. We surveyed forest bird communiti...

Edge effects are major drivers of change in many fragmented landscapes, but are often highly variable in space and time. Here we assess variability in edge effects altering Amazon forest dynamics, plant community composition, invading species, and carbon storage, in the world's largest and longest-running experimental study of habitat fragmentation. Despite detailed knowledge of local landscape...