Stodola Kirk W, Ward Michael P
Am Nat. 2017 Jun;189(6):726-733. doi: 10.1086/691469. Epub 2017 Mar 28.
Multiple biotic, abiotic, and evolutionary constraints interact to determine a species' range. However, most species are not present in all suitable and accessible locations. Dispersal ability may explain why many species do not occupy all suitable habitat, but highly mobile species also exhibit a mismatch. Habitat selection behavior where individuals are site faithful and settle near conspecifics could create a social pressure that make a species' geographic range resistant to change. We investigated this possibility by using an individual-based model of habitat selection where habitat quality moved each year. Our model demonstrated the benefits of conspecific attraction in relatively stable environments and its detrimental influence when habitat quality shifted rapidly. These results were most apparent when adult survival was high, because site fidelity led to more individuals occupying poor-quality habitat areas as habitat quality changed. These individuals attracted other dispersing individuals, thereby decreasing the ability to track shifts in habitat quality, which we refer to as "social inertia." Consequently, social inertia may arise for species that exhibit site fidelity and conspecific attraction, which may have conservation implications in light of climate change and widespread alteration of natural habitats.
多种生物、非生物和进化限制因素相互作用，共同决定一个物种的分布范围。然而，大多数物种并非存在于所有适宜且可达的地点。扩散能力或许可以解释为何许多物种并未占据所有适宜栖息地，但具有高度移动性的物种也存在分布不匹配的情况。个体对特定地点忠诚并在同种个体附近定居的栖息地选择行为，可能会产生一种社会压力，使一个物种的地理分布范围难以改变。我们通过使用一个基于个体的栖息地选择模型来研究这种可能性，在该模型中，栖息地质量每年都会发生变化。我们的模型展示了在相对稳定的环境中同种吸引的益处，以及当栖息地质量迅速变化时其产生的不利影响。当成年个体存活率较高时，这些结果最为明显，因为随着栖息地质量的变化，对特定地点的忠诚导致更多个体占据质量较差的栖息地。这些个体吸引了其他扩散个体，从而降低了追踪栖息地质量变化的能力，我们将其称为“社会惯性”。因此，对于表现出对特定地点忠诚和同种吸引的物种，可能会出现社会惯性，鉴于气候变化和自然栖息地的广泛改变，这可能对保护工作具有重要意义。
