New article in Ecology and Evolution- Identification of metacommunities in bioregions with historical habitat networks
At the interface of landscape history and metacommunity theory, a new paper identifies the need to view the landscape through the lens of the past for better understanding of regional biodiversity patterns.
The history of a landscape can help identify spatial patterns in species metacommunity extents that associate better with beta and gamma diversity, which cannot be identified via spatial networks alone. We found this for odonate species in the wetlands of the Swiss plateau based on data of the past 110 years on wetland change (1899-2010). Thus, the history of a landscape contributes significant information, either in terms of habitat ecological similarities or time lagged species dispersal impacts, on the current patterns and processes of species diversity.
Such historical habitat networks can be a useful knowledge base for estimating metacommunity spatial extents at a regional scale. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, the method of identifying regional units of similarly interacting habitat patch groups can create a common ground within which collaborations between multiple stakeholders can be fostered to holistically manage landscapes for biodiversity conservation.
Find the paper here: external page https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.70076