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Dispersal between interconnected patches can reduce the total population size

View ORCID ProfileIrina Vortkamp, View ORCID ProfileChristian Kost, View ORCID ProfileMarita Hermann, View ORCID ProfileFrank M. Hilker
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.28.489935
Irina Vortkamp
1Institute of Environmental Systems Research and Institute of Mathematics, Osnabrück University, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany
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  • For correspondence: irina.vortkamp@gmx.de
Christian Kost
2Department of Ecology, School of Biology/Chemistry, Osnabrück University, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany
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Marita Hermann
2Department of Ecology, School of Biology/Chemistry, Osnabrück University, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany
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Frank M. Hilker
1Institute of Environmental Systems Research and Institute of Mathematics, Osnabrück University, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany
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Abstract

Human activities increasingly result in a fragmentation of natural ecosystems. However, the ecological consequences of fragmentation remain poorly understood. While some studies report that fragmentation may enhance population growth, others suggest the opposite pattern. Here we investigated how habitat connectivity affects the population size of a single species when habitat patches differ in quality. We combined dispersal experiments, in which bacterial populations of Escherichia coli were repeatedly transferred between two qualitatively different environments, with a process-based mathematical model. Both experiments and model consistently revealed that increased dispersal between patches reduced the total population size, thus demonstrating a detrimental effect of habitat connectivity on population size. This observation could be explained with a net loss of individuals upon migration from a productive to an overcrowded patch. Our findings suggest that conservation measures, which promote movement between fragmented habitats, such as dispersal corridors or stepping stones, are potentially detrimental for some species.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • frank.hilker{at}uos.de

  • irina.vortkamp{at}uos.de

  • christian.kost{at}uos.de

  • marita.hermann{at}uos.de

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted April 30, 2022.
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Dispersal between interconnected patches can reduce the total population size
Irina Vortkamp, Christian Kost, Marita Hermann, Frank M. Hilker
bioRxiv 2022.04.28.489935; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.28.489935
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Dispersal between interconnected patches can reduce the total population size
Irina Vortkamp, Christian Kost, Marita Hermann, Frank M. Hilker
bioRxiv 2022.04.28.489935; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.28.489935

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