Abstract
Context
Earth's forests are fragmented. Species' long-term persistence depends on their conservation in fragmented landscapes with remnants embedded in a matrix of human land use. This matrix influences species' persistence in fragments by determining their degree of isolation and the extent to which edge effects alter habitat. Matrix habitat is often dynamic, so its impact on persistence of remnant species changes over time.
Objectives
Previous research showed that the abundance response of predatory beetle species to matrix habitat predicted their response in fragments with a log-response ratio of about 0.5. When abundance declined in the matrix, there was a smaller but predictable decline in fragments. However, the predictive utility of a fragment:matrix log-response ratio needs testing with functionally different species, more detailed data, and a focus on mechanism.
Methods
In the Wog Wog habitat fragmentation experiment, we follow a detritivorous amphipod 27 years after forest fragmentation.
Results
The amphipod's response in habitat fragments was predicted by its response in the matrix with a log-response ratio of about 0.5, similar to predatory beetles. The amphipod's response was explained by its abiotic niche. The amphipod's short-term response did not predict its long-term response.
Conclusions
The log-response ratio might generalize across the invertebrate food web. For two groups within the Wog Wog experiment, a species' dynamic response in matrix habitat predicted its persistence in fragments. Future work should explore the generality of this finding. With knowledge of projected land use of matrix habitat, a species' matrix response could be used for management planning.
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Data availability
Data and R code will be available from the Dryad Digital Repository upon article acceptance.
Code availability
No original code was created.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to CSIRO Land and Water, who founded the Wog Wog Habitat Fragmentation Experiment, collected samples for the first decade, and continue to support work there. We are grateful to the Forestry Corporation of New South Wales, Australia, for their continued support of the experiment within the managed pine plantation and to the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service for their support of the experiment within South East Forests National Park. We are grateful to Jeff McClenahan and Kika Tuff for their contributions in the field. Additionally, we thank the undergraduate research assistants at the University of Colorado Boulder. Finally, we thank two especially insightful reviewers.
Funding
We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation (DEB 0841892, 1350872, and 2051752 to KFD) and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder (Graduate Research Grants to MEB).
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MEB and KFD conceived of the study, analyzed data, and wrote the manuscript, AH identified the amphipod and sorted samples with SH, PA, RW and JR. All authors edited the manuscript.
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Bitters, M.E., Hicks, A., Holtz, S. et al. The dynamic matrix predicts population response to long-term experimental forest fragmentation. Landsc Ecol 37, 1483–1495 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01432-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01432-w