Synergistic impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on model ecosystems
dc.contributor.author | Bartlett, Lewis J | |
dc.contributor.author | Newbold, Tim | |
dc.contributor.author | Purves, Drew W | |
dc.contributor.author | Tittensor, Derek P | |
dc.contributor.author | Harfoot, Michael B J | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2017-06-09T07:33:14Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2016-09-21 | |
dc.description.abstract | Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to biodiversity, yet separating their effects is challenging. We use a multi-trophic, trait-based, and spatially explicit general ecosystem model to examine the independent and synergistic effects of these processes on ecosystem structure. We manipulated habitat by removing plant biomass in varying spatial extents, intensities, and configurations. We found that emergent synergistic interactions of loss and fragmentation are major determinants of ecosystem response, including population declines and trophic pyramid shifts. Furthermore, trait-mediated interactions, such as a disproportionate sensitivity of large-sized organisms to fragmentation, produce significant effects in shaping responses. We also show that top-down regulation mitigates the effects of land use on plant biomass loss, suggesting that models lacking these interactions—including most carbon stock models—may not adequately capture land-use change impacts. Our results have important implications for understanding ecosystem responses to environmental change, and assessing the impacts of habitat fragmentation. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | T.N. acknowledges funding from a Leverhulme Trust Research Project grant. L.J.B. acknowledges funding from a Natural Environment Research Council training grant (NE/L002434/1). M.H. and D.T. acknowledge funding from a KR Rasmussen Foundation grant. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Vol. 283 Issue 1839, article 20161027 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1098/rspb.2016.1027 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/27898 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Royal Society | en_GB |
dc.rights | © 2016 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. | en_GB |
dc.subject | habitat fragmentation | en_GB |
dc.subject | habitat loss | en_GB |
dc.subject | land-use change | en_GB |
dc.subject | trophic shift | en_GB |
dc.subject | biomass pyramid | en_GB |
dc.subject | ecosystem response | en_GB |
dc.title | Synergistic impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on model ecosystems | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2017-06-09T07:33:14Z | |
dc.description | This is the final version of the article. Available from the Royal Society via the DOI in this record. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | en_GB |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © 2016 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.