Conserving extirpated sites: using habitat quality to manage unoccupied patches for metapopulation persistence

摘要: Conservation of metapopulations requires managing extirpated sites, particularly with current threats increased fragmentation and displacement from global warming. Determining the habitat requirements threatened species how they relate to defining characteristics occupied unoccupied sites is key suitable in patches. Due destruction degradation, endangered Ohlone tiger beetle (Cicindela ohlone) found only five a once more extensive metapopulation Santa Cruz County, California. To determine role quality classifying I measured vegetation ground cover as well plant soil composition which C. ohlone are present, extirpated, absent. used conditional inference trees what factors significantly predicted different types. also analyzed within present that egg-laying habitat. As isolation has been shown be an important driver patch extirpation, tested spatial autocorrelation occupancy if patches were isolated. Habitat successfully differentiated nearly 90 % plots, not isolated sites. Sites currently classified having at least 10 % bare ground, high forb cover, low litter depth, bulk density, lacked. illustrate could manage absents for potential recolonization or translocation, vital persistence.