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The study of dispersal: a conceptual guide

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Animal Dispersal

Abstract

Probably, the best known example of dispersal is the Biblical story of the Israelites traversing the desert in search of a new land. Since then many examples have been recorded in the literature. Today we know dispersal — or movement from one home site to another — as a phenomenon of potentially great importance to the demographic and evolutionary dynamics of populations. The most obvious effect of dispersal is that it changes the spatial distribution of individuals, i.e. dispersal can lead to changes in dispersion (sensu Odum, 1953; Southwood, 1978). These changes may cause increased clumping, greater randomness, or more even spacing. Unfortunately, considerable confusion persists in the literature over the terms ‘dispersal’ and ‘dispersion’ (in fact in some languages, e.g. Spanish and Norwegian, only a single word is available for both concepts). It is therefore necessary to be alert to this problem in reading the literature.

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Authors
  1. N. C. Stenseth
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  2. W. Z. Lidicker Jr
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Norway

    Nils Chr. Stenseth

  2. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, USA

    William Z. Lidicker Jr

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Stenseth, N.C., Lidicker, W.Z. (1992). The study of dispersal: a conceptual guide. In: Stenseth, N.C., Lidicker, W.Z. (eds) Animal Dispersal. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2338-9_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2338-9_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5033-3

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