Ecology and Management of Subdivides Animal Populations

Nichols, James; Lebreton, Jean; Boulinier, T

The increasing subdivision of the earth's habitats by humans has led to substantial interest in the ecology and management of subdivided animal populations. Conservation biology as a whole has been strongly influenced by studies of the dynamics of subdivided populations, and of the dynamics of metapopulations in the broad sense. For instance Hanski and Gilpin (1991:13) emphasize that the well-known SLOSS (Single Large or Several Small) controversy over the design of nature reserves is "fundamentally a metapopulation question." Theoretical work on the dynamics of subdivided populations carried out over the last one to two decades has produced many interesting models and associated inferences (see, for example, from the genetical and evolutionary point of view the review by Harrison and Hastings 1996). Empirical research conducted over this same period has led to suggestive associations between habitat subdivision and the characteristics of corresponding animal populations and communities, especially with an outburst of experimental approaches. However, as emphasized by Kareiva ( 1990), there has been inadequate integration of theory and empirical results, especially because most models have neglected habitat heterogeneity (Hanski 1991 ), a key feature (as shown by many empirical studies). Moreover, the relationship of spatial dynamics to population regulation is still poorly understood, although it is a key issue from a conservation biology perspective because regulation is a major determinant of population resilience and persistence. Indeed, "whether regulation is typically achieved by local stabilizing mechanisms or via metapopulation dynamics remains to be determined," (Murdoch 1994:271).

Ecology and Management of Subdivides Animal Populations

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