Environment & Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, United Kingdom.
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, GL2 7BT, United Kingdom.
Ecol Appl. 2019 Dec;29(8):e01989. doi: 10.1002/eap.1989. Epub 2019 Aug 28.
Species-focused conservation planning is often based on reducing local extinction risk at key sites. However, with increasing levels of habitat fragmentation and pressures from climate change and overexploitation, surrounding landscapes also influence the persistence of species populations, and their effects are increasingly incorporated in conservation planning and management for both species and communities. Here, we present a framework based on metapopulation dynamics in fragmented landscapes, for quantifying the survival (resistance) and reestablishment of species populations following localized extinction events (resilience). We explore the application of this framework to guide the conservation of a group of threatened bird species endemic to papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) swamps in East and Central Africa. Using occupancy data for five species collected over two years from a network of wetlands in Uganda, we determine the local and landscape factors that influence local extinction and colonization, and map expected rates of population turnover across the network to draw inferences about the locations that contribute most to regional resistance and resilience for all species combined. Slight variation in the factors driving extinction and colonization between individual papyrus birds led to species-specific differences in the spatial patterns of site-level resistance and resilience. However, despite this, locations with the highest resistance and/or resilience overlapped for most species and reveal where resources could be invested for multispecies persistence. This novel simplified framework can aid decision making associated with conservation planning and prioritization for multiple species residing in overlapping, fragmented habitats; helping to identify key sites that warrant urgent conservation protection, with consideration of the need to adapt and respond to future change.
物种为中心的保护规划通常基于减少关键地点的本地灭绝风险。然而，随着生境破碎化程度的提高，以及气候变化和过度开发的压力，周围的景观也会影响物种种群的持续存在，其影响越来越多地被纳入物种和群落的保护规划和管理中。在这里，我们提出了一个基于破碎化景观中物种扩散动态的框架，用于量化局部灭绝事件后物种种群的生存（抵抗）和重建（恢复力）。我们探索了该框架在指导东非和中非纸莎草沼泽特有濒危鸟类保护中的应用。我们利用两年内在乌干达湿地网络收集的 5 种鸟类的占有数据，确定影响本地灭绝和定居的本地和景观因素，并绘制整个网络中种群周转率的预期速率，以推断对所有物种的区域抵抗和恢复力贡献最大的地点。个别纸莎草鸟类的灭绝和定居驱动因素的微小差异导致了特定物种的站点水平抵抗和恢复力的空间模式的差异。然而，尽管如此，对于大多数物种来说，具有最高抵抗性和/或恢复力的地点是重叠的，并揭示了资源可以在何处投入以实现多种物种的持续存在。这个新颖的简化框架可以帮助与保护规划和多物种保护相关的决策制定，这些物种栖息在重叠的破碎化生境中；有助于确定需要紧急保护的关键地点，并考虑到适应和应对未来变化的需要。
