Chapter 19: Landscape Dynamics Flashcards
A pattern of patches, corridors, and matrices in the landscape
Mosaic
An area of habitat that differs from its surroundings and has sufficient resources to allow a population to persist
Patch
Study of structure, function, and change in a heterogeneous landscape composed of interacting ecosystems
landscape ecology
The communities that surround a patch on the landscape
matrix
The place where the edge of one patch meets the edge of another adjacent patch (or surrounding matrix)
Boundary
The extent to which a species of a population can move among patches within the matrix
connectivity
Transition zone between two structurally different communities;
Wide borders that form a transition zone between adjoining patches
ecotone
Species that are restricted exclusively to the edge or border environment
edge species
Organisms that require large areas of habitat, even though their home ranges may be small
interior species
Species that are at home in any size habitat patch
area-insensitive species
Response of organisms, animals in particular, to environmental conditions created by the edge
edge effect
patch size
Has a crucial influence on community structure, species diversity, and the presence and absence of species;
As a general rule, large patches of habitat contain a greater number of individuals (population size) and species (species richness) than do small patches;
The increase in population size for a given species with increasing area is simply a function of increasing the carrying capacity for the species
Theory stating that the number of species established on an island represents a dynamic equilibrium between the immigration of new colonizing species and the extinction of previously established ones
theory of island biogeography
3 types of connectivity
1) landscape
2) structural
3) functional
Degree to which the landscape facilitates or impedes the movement of organisms among patches;
Comprised of functional and structural connectivity
Landscape connectivity
Degree to which patches on a landscape are contiguous or physically linked to one another
Structural connectivity
The degree to which the landscape facilitates the movement of organisms
Functional connectivity
A strip of a particular type of vegetation that differs from the land on both sides
Corridor
In the theory of island biogeography, for an equilibrium species richness on an island (S), it is the rate at which one species is lost through extinction and a replacement species is gained through immigration
turnover rate
Corridors that provide dispersal routes for some species but restrict the movement of others
filter effect
Set of local communities that are linked by the dispersal of multiple potentially interacting species
metacommunity
A discrete event in time that disrupts an ecosystem, community, or population, changing substrates and resource availability
disturbance
Constantly changing pattern of patches as each patch passes through successive stages of development
shifting mosaic
conservation corridors
Areas of protected land running between the reserves;
They link existing isolated protected areas into one large system;
They can facilitate the dispersal of plants and animals from one reserve to another;
They can also assist species that migrate seasonally to different habitats to obtain food or breed
The fragmentation of larger continuous tracts of habitats, such as forest, shrubland, or grassland into a mosaic of smaller, often isolated places
habitat fragmentation
