Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Integration of 5G Experimentation Infrastructures into a Multi-Site NFV Ecosystem
Published on: February 3, 2021
Beyond network-based approaches: uncovering the true cost of connectivity
Karolina Argote1, Benoît Geslin1,2, Lucyle Hernandez-Possémé3
1IMBE, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Avignon Univ, IRD, Marseille, France.
Context:
Fragmented landscapes challenge biodiversity conservation. While connectivity elements are promoted to mitigate the effects of fragmentation, their effectiveness remains debated.
Objectives:
This study evaluates the effectiveness of corridors and stepping stones in enhancing dispersal success and population dynamics in a high-resistance matrix. We compare two experimental approaches: a landscape-based design that explicitly accounts for matrix resistance, and a traditional network-based design in which habitat patches are connected by tubes.
Methods:
We conducted a laboratory experiment using the microarthropod model Folsomia candida, manipulating fragmentation by varying the distance between four habitat patches embedded in a high-resistance matrix. Connectivity elements (corridors and stepping stones) were tested and compared with unconnected landscapes (control) and network-based designs. Over 12 weeks, we monitored colonization success, population size, reproduction rate, and adult survival using AI-based image analysis.
Results:
The presence of corridors as a connectivity element enhanced the colonization of initially empty patches, but their effectiveness was distance-dependent. Stepping stones did not differ from the non-connected control landscapes. Interestingly, the largest total populations were found in the non-connected control landscapes, where restricted dispersal resulted in higher reproduction, indicating a trade-off between movement and reproduction. The highest mortality of released adults was observed in landscapes with corridors, whereas higher recruitment was observed in stepping stones landscapes. Network-based designs yielded a higher population size in initially empty patches compared to landscape-scale designs. However, as they bypassed matrix-related dispersal costs, they led to a miss-estimation of the movement, reproduction, survival and recruitment processes.
Conclusions:
Connectivity elements can support dispersal and reproduction, but may also increase mortality in resistant matrices. Conservation strategies should incorporate matrix resistance and landscape-scale context to better promote population dynamics in fragmented landscapes.
Supplementary Information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-026-02382-3.
Related Concept Videos
Circuit Terminology
A circuit, on the other hand, is also an interconnected system of electrical elements but must contain one or more closed paths.
Thevinin's Theorem
Social Traps
Short-distance Transport of Resources
Protein Networks
These interactions can be represented through maps depicting protein-protein interaction networks, represented as nodes and edges. Nodes are circles that are representative of a protein,...