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Habitat Patch Connectivity and Population Survival
Author(s) -
Fahrig Lenore,
Merriam Gray
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/2937372
Subject(s) - ecology , habitat , population , geography , biology , demography , sociology
We constructed a patch dynamics model which can be used to simulate the changing sizes of resident populations in a series of interconnected habitat patches. We applied the model to white—footed mice (Peromyscus Leucopus) inhabiting patches of forest in an agricultural landscape. The model predicts that mouse populations in isolated woodlots have lower growth rates and are thus more prone to extinction than those in connected woodlots. Field data support this prediction.