Journal
ECOLOGY
Volume 96, Issue 12, Pages 3141-3152Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1890/15-0283.1
Keywords
colonization; demographic connectivity; dispersal; extinction; giant kelp; Macrocystis pyrifera; isolation; metapopulation; patch; persistence; population dynamics; remote sensing; time series
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation (NSF) [OCE-1233839]
- NSF [OCE-1155813]
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth System Science Fellowship
- NSF through the Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research project
- Directorate For Geosciences [1232779] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Ocean Sciences [1233283, 1233839] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Ocean Sciences [1155813] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Ocean Sciences [1232779] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Ecological theory predicts that demographic connectivity structures the dynamics of local populations within metapopulation systems, but empirical support has been constrained by major limitations in data and methodology. We tested this prediction for giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera, a key habitat-forming species in temperate coastal ecosystems worldwide, in southern California, USA. We combined a long-term (22 years), large-scale (similar to 500 km coastline), high-resolution census of abundance with novel patch delineation methods and an innovative connectivity measure incorporating oceanographic transport and source fecundity. Connectivity strongly predicted local dynamics (well-connected patches had lower probabilities of extinction and higher probabilities of colonization, leading to greater likelihoods of occupancy) but this relationship was mediated by patch size. Moreover, the relationship between connectivity and local population dynamics varied over time, possibly due to temporal variation in oceanographic transport processes. Surprisingly, connectivity had a smaller influence on colonization relative to extinction, possibly because local ecological factors differ greatly between extinct and extant patches. Our results provide the first comprehensive evidence that southern California giant kelp populations function as a metapopulation system, challenging the view that populations of this important foundation species are governed exclusively by self-replenishment.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available