Combining incidence and demographic modelling approaches to evaluate metapopulation parameters for an endangered riparian plant.

ABSTRACT: Metapopulations are a central concept in ecology and conservation biology; however, estimating key parameters such as colonization rates presents a substantial obstacle to modelling metapopulations in many species. We develop spatial and non-spatial simulation models that combine incidence- and demographic-based approaches to build a relationship between observed patch occupancy, habitat turnover rates, colonization rates and dispersal scales. Applying these models to long-term observations of Pedicularis furbishiae (Furbish's lousewort), a rare plant endemic to the Saint John River, we predict that observed habitat patches averaging 550 m in length receive colonizing seedlings with a yearly probability of 0.45 or 0.54, based on two different models. Predictions are consistent with a stand

SUBMITTER: Charney ND 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4940506 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature