The relative importance of patch habitat quality and landscape attributes on a declining steppe-bird metapopulation

摘要: Metapopulation theory is one of the most popular approaches to identify factors affecting spatial and temporal dynamics populations in fragmented habitat networks. Habitat quality, patch area isolation are mainly focused on when analyzing distribution patterns landscapes. The effects landscape heterogeneity non-occupied matrix, however, have been largely neglected. Here, we determined relative importance quality attributes occurrence, density extinction Dupont’s lark (Chersophilus duponti), an endangered steppe passerine whose has extremely reduced highly isolated patches embedded a unsuitable matrix. measured terms vegetation structure, grazing pressure, arthropod availability, predator abundance, inter-specific competition, did not affect or extinction. At scale, species’ occurrence was principally by interactions among size, geographic Isolation had main independent contribution explaining probability followed matrix composition size. negatively correlated suggesting crowding small fragments, while events were exclusively related isolation. Our findings suggest that rather than local population characteristics crucial determining abundance non-equilibrium Consequently, conservation measures for these species should simultaneously involve apply entire metapopulation particular patches.