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Influence of the direct and indirect effects of habitat fragmentation, via microclimate change, on animal locomotion

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Abstract

Context

Intensive use of agricultural land often modifies the landscape by dividing continuous natural habitat into smaller and more isolated patches. While the effects of habitat fragmentation on species abundance and diversity have been widely studied, little is known about how fragmentation impacts the function of organisms that do persist in the modified environment. Understanding these effects is complicated by the fact that fragmentation can affect organisms directly but also indirectly, by altering the patch microclimatic conditions.

Objectives

We tested the hypothesis that fragmentation-induced microclimate change might be an important mechanism driving changes in animal locomotion in an agricultural landscape.

Methods

We used satellite image analysis, behavioral assays, and patch analyses, to disentangling the direct and indirect effects of fragmentation on the locomotor behavior of a darkling beetle, Zophosis punctata (Tenebrionidae), in the Southern Judea Lowlands in Israel.

Results

We found that fragmentation in an agricultural ecosystem may lead to changes in the thermal conditions of natural habitat patches. Importantly, such fragmentation-related increases in patch temperature played an important role in explaining variation in beetle locomotion across an agricultural landscape. Specifically, beetles from highly fragmented landscapes, which included warmer habitat patches, showed high locomotor intermittence -frequent pausing events during locomotion.

Conclusions

This study shows that the potential consequences of habitat fragmentation on organism function are likely to be underestimated when fragmentation-related microclimate change is ignored. Intermittent locomotion, as opposed to steady locomotion, may provide physiological and fitness benefits in fragmented landscapes, like mitigating performance limitations imposed by extreme thermal conditions.

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Data availability

Data are shared privately for-peer review in a figshare repository https://figshare.com/s/ab2abfef546ca0f10848. If paper is accepted for publication, data will be permanently archived in this same repository.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by NSF IOS-1656279 to GD and YZ.

Funding

This work was supported by an NSF IOS-1656279 to GD and YZ.

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Author notes

  1. Natasha Tigreros and Giorgi Kozhoridze have contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Natasha Tigreros & Goggy Davidowitz

  2. Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel

    Giorgi Kozhoridze & Yaron Ziv

Authors
  1. Natasha Tigreros
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  2. Giorgi Kozhoridze
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  3. Goggy Davidowitz
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  4. Yaron Ziv
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Contributions

All authors conceived of the concepts and ideas. NT and GK conducted the field and lab work, with assistance from GD and YZ. NT and GK analyzed the data. NT and GK wrote the manuscript, with editorial input provided by GD and YZ.

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Correspondence to Natasha Tigreros.

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Tigreros, N., Kozhoridze, G., Davidowitz, G. et al. Influence of the direct and indirect effects of habitat fragmentation, via microclimate change, on animal locomotion. Landsc Ecol 38, 847–859 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01588-5

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