Ecology ch. 12 terms

a population broken into sets of subpopulations held together by dispersal or movements of individuals among them

individuals and interact with each other in the course of their routine feeding and breeding activities

includes the set of local populations that compse the metapopulations

an increase in population size and a decrease in the risk of extinction brought about by an increase of immigration into a population

a single habitat patch is the dominant source of individuals emigrating to other habitat patches within a metapopulation network

area where a population of a species reproductively produces more individuals than needed for replacement; these individuals then emigrate to other areas

area where population of a species can be maintained only by immigration

area of habitat in which a subpopulation of a species produces more individuals than needed for self-maintenance, thus contributing to emigration

a habitat area that receives immigrants from a source habitat, but in which the subpopulation would continually decrease in size because of mortality and poor reproductive success without continual immigration from excess individuals in a source habitat.

discreteness- patches are mostly isolated
extinction and size- patches must be small enough to have a risk of extinction
isolation and recolonization- patches must have enough movement between them to allow repopulation
asynchronous population dynamics- patches don't affect each others' population growth

movements of individuals from occupied patches to unoccupied patches

balance between extinction and establishment of new populations, a mosaic of occupied and unoccupied patches with the same ratio between the two

breaking up a continuous population into a network of local populations
often due to human alterations on the landscape

pathways of suitable habitat between patches that allow animal movement to alleviate isolation

depends on patch size and isolation.
more distance between patches decreases recolonization
smaller patches have a greater risk of local extinction

more variety of niches allows species diversity
larger patches have a greater potential for heterogeneity
more heterogeneity reduces impact of environmental stochasticity

diversity in spatial environment niches
example: trees

between patches, required for metapopulations
less synchronization means more persistent metapopulation

short-lived habitat

colonization is dependent on dispersal rate, which is dependent on natural selection
high fecundity goes with high dispersal rates