Landscape Pattern Determines Neighborhood Size and Structure within a Lizard Population

Wade A Ryberg,Lee A Fitzgerald,Charles W Painter,Michael T Hill,Maura Geraldine Chapman

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056856

Abstract

Although defining population structure according to discrete habitat patches is convenient for metapopulation theories, taking this approach may overlook structure within populations continuously distributed across landscapes. For example, landscape features within habitat patches direct the movement of organisms and define the density distribution of individuals, which can generate spatial structure and localized dynamics within populations as well as among them. Here, we use the neighborhood concept, which describes population structure relative to the scale of individual movements, to illustrate how localized dynamics within a population of lizards (Sceloporus arenicolus) arise in response to variation in landscape pattern within a continuous habitat patch. Our results emphasize links between individual movements at small scales and the emergence of spatial structure within populations which resembles metapopulation dynamics at larger scales. We conclude that population dynamics viewed in a landscape context must consider the explicit distribution and movement of individuals within continuous habitat as well as among habitat patches.

Highlights

Populations of most species are spatially structured at multiple scales [1,2,3]
Patterns of population structure traditionally conceptualized for metapopulation dynamics among habitat patches might emerge among networks of neighborhoods that are self-organized by landscape pattern within populations occupying continuous habitats
Our results illustrated how landscape pattern within continuous habitat influenced the spatial organization of individual lizards into neighborhoods of different sizes, whose localized dynamics shaped patterns of population structure across the landscape

Summary

Introduction

Populations of most species are spatially structured at multiple scales [1,2,3]. The scale of population structure often emerges as a consequence of the dispersal of individuals through heterogeneous landscapes [4,5]. The spatial configuration of landscape features (i.e., landscape pattern) within continuous habitats can facilitate or constrain the movement of individuals and create spatial variation in population density [11]. This variation in population density can generate groups of strongly interacting individuals called ‘‘neighborhoods’’ that are organized regionally into continuous networks [12,13]. Patterns of population structure traditionally conceptualized for metapopulation dynamics among habitat patches might emerge among networks of neighborhoods that are self-organized by landscape pattern within populations occupying continuous habitats

Methods

Results

Conclusion