Habitat Isolation Reduces the Temporal Stability of Island Ecosystems in the Face of Flood Disturbance

摘要: Abstract Natural ecosystems are increasingly exposed to multiple anthropogenic stressors, including land-use change, deforestation, agricultural intensification, and urbanisation, all of which have led widespread habitat fragmentation, is also likely be amplified further by predicted climate change. The potential interactive effects these different stressors cannot determined studying each in isolation, although such synergies been largely ignored ecological field studies date. Here, we use a model system naturally fragmented islands braided river network, periodic inundation, investigate the isolation flood disturbance. Food web structure was similar across during periods hydrological stability, but several key properties were altered aftermath disturbance, based on distance from regional source pool species: taxon richness mean food chain length declined with after flooding, while proportion basal species increased. Greater turnover through time reflected slower process re-colonisation more distant following Increased variability over 1-year period highlighted reduced temporal stability isolated fragments. Many differential successes predator prey at re-colonising islands: even though larger, mobile consumers may reach first, they establish populations until lower trophic levels successfully reassembled. These results highlight susceptibility environmental perturbations.