– Habitat quality and landscape structure are key factors that determine the distributions of animals. The general characteristics of the habitat of Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) have been well studied, but little is known about how landscape structure affects this species. Other studies have suggested that food resources for owls should be higher in small patches because of increased edg...

The UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) Agenda 21 issue for sustainable development emphasizes on an integrated approach for the maintenance and management of land resources. Conservation of biodiversity has become an important environmental issue after the UNCED. Habitat fragmentation caused by the sprawl of urban development is becoming one of the major environmental problems...

According to metapopulation theory, the capacity of a habitat patch network to support the persistence of a species is measured by the metapopulation capacity of the patch network. Mathematically, metapopulation capacity is given by the leading eigenvalue kM of an appropriately constructed non-negative n n matrix M, where n is the number of habitat patches. Both habitat destruction (in the sens...

Rapid fragmentation and degradation of large undisturbed habitats constitute major threats to biodiversity. Several studies have shown that populations in small and highly isolated habitat patches are prone to strong environmental and demographic stochasticity and increased risk of extinction. Based on community assembly theory, we predict recent rapid forest fragmentation to cause a decline in...

We present a forest harvest scheduling model that can ensure the temporal con1 nectivity of mature forest habitat over time in a landscape managed for timber production. 2 Past models addressed the spatial aspects of habitat connectivity by requiring that a certain 3 amount of mature forest habitat is retained throughout a planning horizon in contiguous 4 patches of minimum size and age. These ...

In recent years there has been a shift in biodiversity conservation efforts from the confines of enclosed protected areas to a more expansive view of interlinked habitat patches across multiple land tenure types and land uses. However, much work remains on how conservation managers can intervene in such a system to achieve the sustainabil-ity of basic conservation goals. An agent-based model of...

Finding suitable forage patches in a heterogeneous landscape, where patches change dynamically both spatially and temporally could be challenging to large herbivores, especially if they have no a priori knowledge of the location of the patches. We tested whether three large grazing herbivores with a variety of different traits improve their efficiency when foraging at a heterogeneous habitat pa...

Theoretically, dispersers should target the habitat where prospects for fitness will be highest. Aiming for a habitat similar to the natal area (natal habitat-biased dispersal) has been hypothesized as a probable rule of thumb for dispersers, but has received very little empirical support to date. We investigated similarities between natal and post-dispersal settlement sites with radio-collared...

Changes in habitat-forming organisms can have complex consequences for associated species. Sessile epibenthic glass "plate" sponges (Porifera: Hexactinellida) are conspicuous inhabitants of soft-sediment abyssal areas and their siliceous spicules create persistent spicule patches on the seafloor. Sponge spicule patch density, spatial dispersion, and percent cover were examined over a seven-year...

The spatial distribution of organisms in patchy environments can be determined by the relationship between habitat quality and animal behaviour. In species with complex life cycles, such as pond-breeding amphibians, the selection of a suitable wetland is crucial. While the traditional view of amphibian ecology suggests strong site fidelity and low vagility, more recent research highlights mecha...