The intermediate dispersal principle in spatially explicit metapopulations

Area of Science:

• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Theoretical Ecology
• Mathematical Biology

Background:

• Metapopulation dynamics are crucial for understanding species persistence in fragmented landscapes.
• Spatially explicit models offer detailed insights but are computationally challenging to analyze.
• Previous implicit models suggested intermediate dispersal is key for metapopulation persistence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess metapopulation fate using a spatially explicit interacting particle system (IPS).
• To determine persistence-extinction boundaries in complex metapopulation models.
• To investigate the robustness of the intermediate dispersal principle in explicit spatial contexts.

Main Methods:

• Developed an interacting particle system (IPS) with logistic competition and variable dispersal kernels.
• Employed a heuristic method to identify space-time percolation thresholds for boundary determination.
• Compared results with spatial implicit modeling and analyzed scaling laws for species loss.

Main Results:

• Identified persistence-extinction boundaries using space-time percolation thresholds.
• Confirmed the robustness of the intermediate dispersal principle for metapopulation persistence.
• Quantification of boundaries depends on patch number, dispersal kernels, and border conditions.

Conclusions:

• The intermediate dispersal principle is a robust feature of metapopulation dynamics.
• A scaling law predicts species loss based on landscape fragmentation and patch number.
• This framework aids in estimating the ecological cost of habitat destruction.