Landscape heterogeneity buffers biodiversity of simulated meta-food-webs under global change through rescue and drainage effects.

ABSTRACT: Habitat fragmentation and eutrophication have strong impacts on biodiversity. Metacommunity research demonstrated that reduction in landscape connectivity may cause biodiversity loss in fragmented landscapes. Food-web research addressed how eutrophication can cause local biodiversity declines. However, there is very limited understanding of their cumulative impacts as they could amplify or cancel each other. Our simulations of meta-food-webs show that dispersal and trophic processes interact through two complementary mechanisms. First, the 'rescue effect' maintains local biodiversity by rapid recolonization after a local crash in population densities. Second, the 'drainage effect' stabilizes biodiversity by preventing overshooting of population densities on eutrophic patches. In complex fo

SUBMITTER: Ryser R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8342463 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature