
The term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins
Richard Levins
Richard "Dick" Levins was an ex-tropical farmer turned ecologist, a population geneticist, biomathematician, mathematical ecologist, and philosopher of science who had researched diversity in human populations. Until his death, Levins was a university professor at the Harvard …
What is the metapopulation concept?
The metapopulation concept has now been firmly established in population biology. Two key premises in this approach to population biology are that populations are spatially structured into assemblages of local breeding populations, and that migration among the local populations has some effect on local dynamics,...
What is metapopulation theory in fisheries?
Metapopulation theory was first developed for terrestrial ecosystems, and subsequently applied to the marine realm. In fisheries science, the term "sub-population" is equivalent to the metapopulation science term "local population".
Is metapopulation an equilibrium or nonequilibrium theory?
Though metapopulation the- ories are not any more, or less, "equilibrium" theories than the theory of island biogeography, the emphasis in the latter on equilibrium species richness and in the former on population turnover may have created the sense of a conflict be- tween an equilibrium and a nonequilibrium theory.
How does metapopulation structure affect the rate of evolution?
the rate of evolution. They also cause e volution of traits associated and fecundity. On the one hand, metapopulation structure should found new populations. For example, this might lead to increased fecundity. On the other hand, if mortality due to dispersal is low dispersal, as mostly sedentary individuals would survi ve.

What was the example of metapopulation theory?
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 metapopulation concept?
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 consists of "a population of populations".
What is a classical metapopulation theory?
Classical metapopulation (CM) theory considers that species persistence in the landscape depends on a turnover of extinction-(re)colonisation of suitable habitat patches at each generation. Therefore, metapopulation dynamics are approximated by binary changes in the state of individual patches.
What is metapopulation and why is it important to study them?
Metapopulation theory is used to analyse the effects of habitat fragmentation on birds in the temperate zone, integrating various explanations for the paucity of species in isolated ecotopes. There is some evidence that turnover of local populations occurs in fragmented systems.
What causes a metapopulation?
Habitat fragmentation by human activities may lead to a metapopulation structure of local populations even if this was not the preexisting situation for the natural population of these organisms.
What is the difference between population and metapopulation?
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.
Who coined the term metapopulation?
Richard LevinsThe term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in the early 1970s to describe a population of populations. Classical metapopulations comprise a series of patches where a particular species could potentially survive, with some patches being occupied and others lying empty at any point in time.
How do you measure metapopulation?
There are a number of criteria to decide whether a collection of populations of the same species in distinct patches form a "classical" metapopulation: 1. The organisms spend most of their life within a single patch; If the patches are ephemeral aggregates, we are dealing with forage patches or something equivalent.
Why are metapopulations important in conservation biology?
The metapopulation concept is important because species that exist in a meta- population face particular issues related to en- vironmental impacts, and have conservation options that can be evaluated more completely, or only, in a metapopulation context.
What is metapopulation PDF?
A metapopulation is a spatially structured population that persists over time as a set of local populations with limited dispersal between them. At equilibrium, the frequencies of local extinctions and colonisations are in balance.
What is metapopulation in conservation biology?
Metapopulation, originally pioneered by Levins, refers to a series or set of local populations, each existing on a patch of suitable habitat that is separated from other occupied patches by unsuitable terrain.
What is meta population according to you as a biology student?
A population is a group of individuals of a particular species which live in a well defined geographical area, share or compete for similar resources and potentially interbreed.
Why are metapopulations important in conservation biology?
The metapopulation concept is important because species that exist in a meta- population face particular issues related to en- vironmental impacts, and have conservation options that can be evaluated more completely, or only, in a metapopulation context.
What is metapopulation PDF?
A metapopulation is a spatially structured population that persists over time as a set of local populations with limited dispersal between them. At equilibrium, the frequencies of local extinctions and colonisations are in balance.
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.
Who coined the term metapopulation?
Richard LevinsThe term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in the early 1970s to describe a population of populations. Classical metapopulations comprise a series of patches where a particular species could potentially survive, with some patches being occupied and others lying empty at any point in time.
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
Huffaker's experiments on predator–prey interactions (1958)
The Levins model
Stochasticity and metapopulations
Stochastic patch occupancy models (SPOMs)
Microhabitat patches (MHPs) and bacterial metapopulations
Life history evolution