Emergent properties of conspecific attraction in fragmented landscapes

Attraction to conspecifics may have wide-ranging implications for habitat selection and metapopulation theory, yet little is known about the process of attraction and its effects relative to other habitat selection strategies. Using individual-based simulations, I investigated the emergent properties of conspecific attraction during habitat selection on survival, fecundity, short-term fitness (survival x fecundity), and distributions in fragmented landscapes. I simulated conspecific attraction during searching and settlement decisions and compared attraction with random, habitat-based (searching for the presence of habitat), and habitat quality sampling strategies (searching for and settling in high-quality habitat). Conspecific attraction during searching or settlement decisions had different consequences for animals: attraction while searching increased survival by decreasing time spent in nonsuitable habitat, whereas attraction during settlement increased fecundity by aggregating animals in high-quality habitats. Habitat-based sampling did not improve fitness over attraction, but directly sampling habitat quality resulted in the highest short-term fitness among strategies. These results suggest that attraction can improve fitness when animals cannot directly assess habitat quality. Interestingly, conspecific attraction influenced distributions by generating patch size effects and weak edge effects, highlighting that attraction is one potential, yet previously unappreciated, mechanism to explain the widespread patterns of animal sensitivity to habitat fragmentation.