Omar Mack BIOL 330 01 Conservation Biology Dr.

Terry Morely 23 October 2013 Dispersal Through a Fragmented Landscape Fraction of Land Remaining 1 0.95 0.9 0.85 0.8 0.75 0.7 0.65 0.6
250 200 150 Edge Sensitive 100 50 0 1 0.95 0.9 0.85 0.8 0.75 0.7 0.65 0.6 Not Edge Sensitive

Edge Sensitive 115 138 167 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Not Edge Sensitive 115 117 119 133 124 129 163 189 217

From "Breeding Bird Species Diversity in the Negev: Effects of Scrub Fragmentation by Planted Forests" (see citation below): Abstract: 1. Afforestation of the Northern Negev, Israel, from 1956 resulted in patches of primarily coniferous trees that fragmented large scrubland areas. This alteration in landscape pattern was followed by immigration of Mediterranean bird species to the Negev. 2. We counted breeding birds, and measured various environmental variables in scrubland and planted forest patches, to test whether bird assemblages were random subsets of the regional species pool, and whether area or habitat structure was the major correlate with species abundance and distribution. 3. Of 22 bird species recorded, only three appeared in both scrub and forest, showing that these two habitats were occupied by different species assemblages. In both

habitats, species richness increased with area at a rate greater than that expected by random sampling. In the scrub this increase was related to area per se, while in the forest it was related to habitat diversity in terms of stand age and tree type. 4. The density of forest species was unaffected by area, but specialist scrubland species declined as area decreased. We suggest that edge effects might reduce species abundance in small scrubland patches. 5. Nested subset analysis indicated that, at the community level, species composition was not random. However, at the species level, the distribution of three forest-dwelling species appeared as random, as it was associated with habitat rather than with patch size. 6. Our results indicate that increased diversity of breeding birds in the Northern Negev will require scrub patches larger than 50 ha among the increasingly forested landscape. In contrast, increasing forest area would hardly increase species diversity in the whole landscape. Future forest management regimes should also aim to increase habitat diversity by adding foliage layers, especially in the understorey. Exotic coniferous forests support fewer species than deciduous forests in Mediterranean zones around the world. The suggested management regime may improve such forests as habitat for species-rich bird communities.
Source: Shochat, Eyal, Zvika Abramsky, and Berry Pinshow. "Breeding Bird Species Diversity in the Negev: Effects of Scrub Fragmentation by Planted Forests." Journal of Applied Ecology 38.5 (2001): 1135-147. Print.

Reflection: Its clear from the data that, when not edge sensitive, theres a fairly consistent rise in the number of moves it took the red dot to get to the destination, as it just had to find its way through more of a maze each time. When edge sensitive, the labyrinth becomes more complicated, to a point where it becomes impossible to cross the fragmented landscape sooner. The Mediterranean breeding bird example is an interesting contrast since it deals with afforestation and the immigration of a species, but the opposite example shows that if this were to happen in reverse, one may assume that any native birds would emigrate somewhere else as their environment was dismantled. This study shows that whats more important to the establishment of this species is the shrub, or in relation to the exercise the edge, meaning when working on healing a fragmented landscape it may not be necessarily important to fully establish the environment itself, but the area around it instead. This brings an interesting relevance to a quote from the textbook: Note that habitat loss or degradation for one species will probably constitute habitat gain or enhancement for some other species (Hunter 151). The land that was once fragmented that was replanted probably housed a few species that were forced to leave, and now has begun to house a new specie which will most likely lead to the introduction of more and more species over time and a re-established ecosystem.