Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Ecological Disturbance02:26

Ecological Disturbance

21.3K
An ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in the environment resulting from abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic factors, causing a pronounced change in an ecosystem. The impact of an ecological disturbance, which can depend on its intensity, frequency, and spatial distribution, plays a significant role in shaping the species diversity within the ecosystem.
21.3K
Population Growth00:57

Population Growth

29.2K
Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.
29.2K
What are Populations and Communities?00:30

What are Populations and Communities?

38.2K
Overview
38.2K
Distribution and Dispersion00:54

Distribution and Dispersion

25.7K
To understand intra-specific interactions in populations, scientists measure the spatial arrangement of species individuals. This geographic arrangement is known as the species distribution or dispersion. Highly territorial species exhibit a uniform distribution pattern, in which individuals are spaced at relatively equal distances from one another. Species that are highly tied to particular resources, such as food or shelter, tend to concentrate around those resources, and thus exhibit a...
25.7K
Habitat Fragmentation02:31

Habitat Fragmentation

21.6K
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
21.6K
Ecological Succession02:17

Ecological Succession

21.8K
Ecological succession is influenced by the processes of facilitation, inhibition, and toleration. Facilitation occurs when early successional species create more favorable ecological conditions for subsequent species, such as enhanced nutrient, water, or light availability. In contrast, inhibition happens when early successional species create unfavorable ecological conditions for potential successive species, such as limiting resource availability. In some cases, later successional species...
21.8K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Up High, Hot and Dry: Individual Reproductive Output in Subalpine Bees Declines With Increasing Drought Severity.

Global change biology·2025
Same author

Butterfly populations flutter bye.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025
Same author

Spring comes earlier but not equally among species.

Nature ecology & evolution·2025
Same author

Plant resistance and predators influence the density dependence of herbivore survival and distribution of herbivory.

Ecology and evolution·2024
Same author

Climate data from the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (1975-2022).

Ecology·2023
Same author

Extensive regional variation in the phenology of insects and their response to temperature across North America.

Ecology·2023

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 2, 2026

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
07:40

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

11.7K

Time since disturbance affects colonization dynamics in a metapopulation.

Jessie Mutz1, Nora Underwood1, Brian D Inouye1

  • 1Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.

The Journal of Animal Ecology
|May 9, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Habitat recovery after disturbances like fires is complex. The study shows that the abundance of colonizing insects depends not only on the disturbed patch but also on the condition of nearby source patches, impacting metapopulation dynamics.

Keywords:
Hemisphaerota cyaneafire managementinsect herbivoresrecolonizationtime since fire

More Related Videos

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
08:16

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Published on: March 13, 2014

19.5K
Measuring the Structure, Composition, and Change of Underwater Environments with Large-area Imaging
09:19

Measuring the Structure, Composition, and Change of Underwater Environments with Large-area Imaging

Published on: April 18, 2025

1.6K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 2, 2026

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
07:40

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

11.7K
Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
08:16

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Published on: March 13, 2014

19.5K
Measuring the Structure, Composition, and Change of Underwater Environments with Large-area Imaging
09:19

Measuring the Structure, Composition, and Change of Underwater Environments with Large-area Imaging

Published on: April 18, 2025

1.6K

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Metapopulation Dynamics
  • Disturbance Ecology

Background:

  • Disturbances significantly impact natural populations, yet studies often overlook recolonization dynamics.
  • Metapopulation models typically assume uniform recolonization rates, neglecting source patch variability.
  • Frequently disturbed landscapes, like fire-managed forests, present complex mosaics of habitat successional states.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how time since disturbance in both focal and neighboring source patches affects metapopulation dynamics.
  • To understand the influence of time since fire (TSF) on the abundance of a specialist insect (palmetto beetle).

Main Methods:

  • Field study in Apalachicola National Forest, Florida, examining beetle abundances in relation to fire history.
  • Measurements taken at varying distances from edges of paired fire management units with different TSF.
  • Analysis of beetle abundance patterns based on focal unit TSF and the difference in TSF between paired units.

Main Results:

  • Beetle abundance patterns within units shifted from edge-biased to more uniform with increasing TSF.
  • Focal unit beetle abundance positively correlated with source unit abundance, with relationships varying by TSF.
  • Both focal and source habitat history influence recolonization, with effects potentially lasting years.

Conclusions:

  • Recolonization of recently disturbed patches is influenced by the historical conditions of both the focal and source habitats.
  • Metapopulation dynamics predictions must account for the heterogeneity of source patch characteristics, not just focal patches.
  • Understanding the interplay of TSF in different patches is crucial for effective landscape and disturbance management.