Full Answer
What is the meaning of metapopulation?
metapopulation, in ecology, a regional group of connected populations of a species.
What is a metapopulation example?
Metapopulation is a population in which individuals are spatially distributed in a habitat in two or more subpopulations. Populations of butterflies and coral-reef fishes are good examples of metapopulation .
What is a metapopulation and why is it important to study them?
Metapopulations are particularly useful when discussing species in disturbed habitats, and the viability of their populations, i.e., how likely they are to become extinct in a given time interval.
How do populations and metapopulations differ?
Metapopulation-a set of spatially disjunct populations, among which there is some immigration. Population-a group of conspecific individuals that is demographically, genetically, or spatially disjunct from other groups of individuals.
Are humans metapopulation?
The researchers advocate a structured population model, as humans evolved from multiple interconnected subpopulations of early humans, spread out across Africa in a large metapopulation.
How do metapopulations work?
Metapopulation theory states that a large population consisting of a single species is most stable over a large area when it is divided up into smaller subpopulations.
What are the factors that characterize metapopulation?
Metapopulation dynamics are influenced by four kinds of stochasticity (Table 1): demographic and environmental stochasticity affecting separately each local population, and extinction–colonization and regional stochasticity affecting the entire metapopulation.
Why are metapopulations important in conservation biology?
Importance of Metapopulation Theory The first is that metapopulation theory allows for smaller patches of habitat to be considered for preservation as long as other similar patches exist within the area.
What is metapopulation in conservation biology?
A metapopulation is a set of local populations within some larger area, where migration from one population to another is possible. A patch is a continuous area with all requisites for the persistence of a local population. It is separated from other patches by unsuitable habitat.
How is metapopulation calculated?
We can express this mathematically:I=pi⋅(1−f)(Eq. If most patches in the landscape are occupied, then the majority of the metapopulation can potentially go extinct. ... E=pe⋅f(Eq. Combining equation 1 with the above equations, we get our first fully developed metapopulation model:Δf=pi(1−f)−pef(Eq.
What must happen for a metapopulation to persist?
Abstract. Metapopulations persist when local populations are rapidly recolonized following local extinctions. Such persistence requires asynchrony; simultaneous crashes of all populations would leave no source of recolonization.
Who coined the term metapopulation?
The term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in the early 1970s to describe a population of populations.
What is one application of the metapopulation concept quizlet?
What is one application of the metapopulation concept? It provides a framework for species conservation when those species live in a network of habitat fragments and reserves. In a patchy habitat, a group of smaller, isolated _______ form a single large _______.
What is source in a metapopulation?
Source-sink dynamics stem from metapopulation theory, where sources are. populations with births exceeding deaths and emigration exceeding immigration, and sinks are populations with deaths exceeding births.
Why are metapopulations important in conservation biology?
Importance of Metapopulation Theory The first is that metapopulation theory allows for smaller patches of habitat to be considered for preservation as long as other similar patches exist within the area.
What are the factors that characterize metapopulation?
Metapopulation dynamics are influenced by four kinds of stochasticity (Table 1): demographic and environmental stochasticity affecting separately each local population, and extinction–colonization and regional stochasticity affecting the entire metapopulation.
What is a Metapopulation?
A metapopulation is a population of populations, or a group of groups, that is made up of the same species. Each subpopulation, or subgroup, is separated from all other subpopulations, but movement of individuals from one population to another occurs regularly.
Why is metapopulation important?
The metapopulation is constantly losing and gaining subpopulations, so it stays stable over a large area. Important to Wildlife Biology. The theory of metapopulation is important to wildlife biologists, since most wildlife habitats are fragmented, or patchy.
What does metapopulation have to do with butterflies?
They saw butterflies in their backyards that looked and acted exactly like butterflies up in the mountains, or in a different country, or on the other side of the world. Of course, being scientists, they also captured some of those butterflies from all over the place and put them together to see if they were really the same species. They were. How was this possible? Enter metapopulation theory.
What is it called when a butterfly visits a population?
This visitation is a concept known as interaction among populations of the same species. Subpopulations within a metapopulation interact to a limited extent - enough to mate and keep the family line going, but not enough for them to be considered members of the same subpopulation.
How do students reinforce their acquired knowledge concerning metapopulations?
Students will reinforce their acquired knowledge concerning metapopulations through an inspection of the populations to which they belong and/or a chosen creature belongs.
Why is it important to know that infrequent visitation between subpopulations keeps those subpopulations looking and?
This is important because that infrequent visitation between subpopulations keeps those subpopulations looking and acting like the same species. If two groups of the same species are isolated from each other long enough, they start to grow apart. Eventually (we're talking after thousands upon thousands of generations where the two populations don't interact), the populations look very different, act very different, and couldn't mate with each other if they wanted to. This type of evolution is called divergent evolution and is what most people think of when we think of new species evolving in nature.
What is a metapopulation?
A metapopulation consists of a group of spatially separated populations of the same species which interact at some level. The term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in 1969 to describe a model of population dynamics of insect pests in agricultural fields, but the idea has been most broadly applied to species in naturally ...
What is the significance of metapopulation theory?
The development of metapopulation theory, in conjunction with the development of source–sink dynamics, emphasised the importance of connectivity between seemingly isolated populations. Although no single population may be able to guarantee the long-term survival of a given species, the combined effect of many populations may be able to do this.
How do metapopulation models explain life history?
Metapopulation models have been used to explain life-history evolution, such as the ecological stability of amphibian metamorphosis in small vernal ponds . Alternative ecological strategies have evolved. For example, some salamanders forgo metamorphosis and sexually mature as aquatic neotenes. The seasonal duration of wetlands and the migratory range of the species determines which ponds are connected and if they form a metapopulation. The duration of the life history stages of amphibians relative to the duration of the vernal pool before it dries up regulates the ecological development of metapopulations connecting aquatic patches to terrestrial patches.
What are some examples of early experimentation in metapopulation dynamics?
Huffaker's studies of spatial structure and species interactions are an example of early experimentation in metapopulation dynamics. Since the experiments of Huffaker and Levins, models have been created which integrate stochastic factors.
What is subpopulation in fisheries?
In fisheries science, the term "sub-population" is equivalent to the metapopulation science term "local population". Most marine examples are provided by relatively sedentary species occupying discrete patches of habitat, with both local recruitment and recruitment from other local populations in the larger metapopulation.
Why is metapopulation stable?
Although individual populations have finite life-spans, the metapopulation as a whole is often stable because immigrants from one population (which may, for example, be experiencing a population boom) are likely to re-colonize habitat which has been left open by the extinction of another population.
Why does a population go extinct?
In classical metapopulation theory, each population cycles in relative independence of the other populations and eventually goes extinct as a consequence of demographic stochasticity (fluctuations in population size due to random demographic events); the smaller the population, the more chances of inbreeding depression and prone to extinction.
What is a metapopulation?
A metapopulation consists of a group of spatially separated populations of the same species which interact at some level. The term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in 1970 to describe a model of population dynamics of insect pests in agricultural fields, but the idea has been most broadly applied to species in naturally ...
Why is metapopulation stable?
Although individual populations have finite life-spans, the metapopulation as a whole is often stable because immigrants from one population are likely to re-colonize habitat which has been left open by the extinction of another population. They may also emigrate to a small population and rescue that population from extinction.
Why does a population go extinct?
In classical metapopulation theory, each population cycles in relative independence of the other populations and eventually goes extinct as a consequence of demographic stochasticity; the smaller the population, the more prone it is to extinction.
What is a metapopulation in biology?
Lecture 12 Metapopulations. A region may contain more than one population of any given species. A Metapopulation is the larger unit made up of a group of Subpopulations (local populations of one species). A group of subpopulations interconnected through migration.
How is metapopulation stable?
Metapopulation is stable through constant extinction-recolonization events. an equilibrium is reached which balances local extinction and recolonization. for this kind of metapopulation, the regulation of the metapopulation is not directly tied to the fate of any one subpopulation.
How does habitat fragmentation affect humans?
Habitat Fragmentation by human activity can create metapopulations with isolated subpopulations from previously large local populations. fragments left by human activities may be too small to sustain breeding populations. fragments may be too far apart to allow sufficient migration.
What is spatial heterogeneity?
Spatial heterogeneity is the degree to patches vary in both quality and the arrangement of those patches (distance between) Each subpopulation's maximal size depends on it's patch quality. Spatial heterogeneity important as a means of unlinking the fates of individual patches. this effect is called Spreading the Risk.
What is the term for the loss of a local population?
Extinction : the loss of a local population for any reason (disease, visit by a predator, demographic stochasticity, etc.). This is sometimes called Local Extinction because it refers to local populations. Colonization : The founding of new local populations from existing populations. A Model of Patchy Metapopulations.
How does P affect colonization rate?
P affects the colonization rate in a direct and an indirect way. The direct effect is that, as P increases, the number of dispersing individuals increases and indirectly because, as P increases, the number of unoccupied patches decreases and the chance of finding such a patch decreases. Thus, the colonization rate is: ...
Is population size inversely correlated with body size?
Population size is correlated with body size, so that local populations are smaller for a species with a large body size compared with a similar species that has a smaller body size. Population size is inversely correlated with the probability of extinction and will affect metapopulation dynamics for this reason.
Overview
A metapopulation consists of a group of spatially separated populations of the same species which interact at some level. The term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in 1969 to describe a model of population dynamics of insect pests in agricultural fields, but the idea has been most broadly applied to species in naturally or artificially fragmented habitats. In Levins' own words, it …
Predation and oscillations
The first experiments with predation and spatial heterogeneity were conducted by G. F. Gause in the 1930s, based on the Lotka–Volterra equation, which was formulated in the mid-1920s, but no further application had been conducted. The Lotka-Volterra equation suggested that the relationship between predators and their prey would result in population oscillations over time based on the initial densities of predator and prey. Gause's early experiments to prove the predic…
Huffaker's experiments on predator–prey interactions (1958)
In order to study predation and population oscillations, Huffaker used mite species, one being the predator and the other being the prey. He set up a controlled experiment using oranges, which the prey fed on, as the spatially structured habitat in which the predator and prey would interact. At first, Huffaker experienced difficulties similar to those of Gause in creating a stable predator–prey interaction. By using oranges only, the prey species quickly became extinct followed consequent…
The Levins model
Levins' original model applied to a metapopulation distributed over many patches of suitable habitat with significantly less interaction between patches than within a patch. Population dynamics within a patch were simplified to the point where only presence and absence were considered. Each patch in his model is either populated or not.
Let N be the fraction of patches occupied at a given time. During a time dt, each occupied patch …
Stochasticity and metapopulations
Huffaker's studies of spatial structure and species interactions are an example of early experimentation in metapopulation dynamics. Since the experiments of Huffaker and Levins, models have been created which integrate stochastic factors. These models have shown that the combination of environmental variability (stochasticity) and relatively small migration rates cause indefinite or unpredictable persistence. However, Huffaker's experiment almost guaranteed infin…
Stochastic patch occupancy models (SPOMs)
One major drawback of the Levins model is that it is deterministic, whereas the fundamental metapopulation processes are stochastic. Metapopulations are particularly useful when discussing species in disturbed habitats, and the viability of their populations, i.e., how likely they are to become extinct in a given time interval. The Levins model cannot address this issue. A simple way to extend the Levins' model to incorporate space and stochastic considerations is b…
Microhabitat patches (MHPs) and bacterial metapopulations
Combining nanotechnology with landscape ecology, synthetic habitat landscapes have been fabricated on a chip by building a collection of bacterial mini-habitats with nano-scale channels providing them with nutrients for habitat renewal, and connecting them by corridors in different topological arrangements, generating a spatial mosaic of patches of opportunity distributed in time. This can be use…
Life history evolution
Metapopulation models have been used to explain life-history evolution, such as the ecological stability of amphibian metamorphosis in small vernal ponds. Alternative ecological strategies have evolved. For example, some salamanders forgo metamorphosis and sexually mature as aquatic neotenes. The seasonal duration of wetlands and the migratory range of the species determines which ponds are connected and if they form a metapopulation. The duration of the life history st…