(Haddad, 2003) Corridor Use by Diverse Taxa PDF
(Haddad, 2003) Corridor Use by Diverse Taxa PDF
(Haddad, 2003) Corridor Use by Diverse Taxa PDF
609–615
q 2003 by the Ecological Society of America
Abstract. One of the most popular approaches for maintaining populations and con-
serving biodiversity in fragmented landscapes is to retain or create corridors that connect
otherwise isolated habitat patches. Working in large-scale, experimental landscapes in which
open-habitat patches and corridors were created by harvesting pine forest, we showed that
corridors direct movements of different types of species, including butterflies, small mam-
mals, and bird-dispersed plants, causing higher movement between connected than between
unconnected patches. Corridors directed the movement of all 10 species studied, with all
corridor effect sizes .68%. However, this corridor effect was significant for five species,
not significant for one species, and inconclusive for four species because of small sample
sizes. Although we found no evidence that corridors increase emigration from a patch, our
results show that movements of disparate taxa with broadly different life histories and
functional roles are directed by corridors.
Key words: biodiversity; bird; butterfly; conservation; corridors; dispersal; fragmentation; fru-
givory; landscape experiment; movement; pollination; small mammals.
Reports
INTRODUCTION To date, most corridor studies have focused on sin-
gle species, or on groups of closely related taxa (see
Corridors are long, thin strips of habitat that connect
recent reviews in Rosenberg et al. 1997, Beier and
otherwise isolated habitat patches. They are thought to
Noss 1998, Hess and Fischer 2001). For example, cor-
reduce local extinction by ‘‘rescuing’’ isolated popu-
ridors have been shown to serve as movement con-
lations (Brown and Kodric-Brown 1977) and by pro-
duits for species of birds (Haas 1995), mammals
moting gene flow. Indeed, recent studies have dem-
(Beier 1995), and butterflies (Sutcliffe and Thomas
onstrated that corridors can increase animal movement
1996, Haddad 1999a). However, for other species of
between patches (Haas 1995, Sutcliffe and Thomas
birds (Date et al. 1991), butterflies (Haddad 1999b),
1996, Gonzalez et al. 1998, Haddad 1999a, Mech and
and small mammals (Suckling 1984, Henderson et al.
Hallett 2001), increase population sizes (Fahrig and
1985, Bowne et al. 1999), as well as a salamander
Merriam 1985, Dunning et al. 1995, Haddad and Baum
1999), increase gene flow (Aars and Ims 1999, Hale et species (Rosenberg et al. 1998), corridors do not in-
al. 2001, Mech and Hallett 2001), and maintain bio- crease movement. In addition, many major taxa have
diversity (Gonzalez et al. 1998). Other studies, how- not been considered in corridor studies. For example,
ever, have found no corridor effects (Arnold et al. 1991, there are no studies of corridor effects on the move-
Date et al. 1991, Rosenberg et al. 1998, Bowne et al. ment of plants or of many insect groups.
1999, Haddad and Baum 1999, Collinge 2000, Dan- Using a large-scale experiment, we synthesized re-
ielson and Hubbard 2000). In one recent review, Beier sults from studies of the effects of corridors on move-
and Noss (1998) evaluated 32 corridor studies and ment by species from diverse taxa, including butter-
found that, although many were inconclusive due to flies, bees, bird-dispersed plants, and small mammals.
flaws in study design, 10 of 12 well-designed studies Although each taxon was studied independently, all
demonstrated positive effects of corridors. Given that studies took place in the same experiment. In our anal-
habitat conservation measures such as corridors are ysis, we incorporated new and previously published
likely to affect many species in a landscape, an im- data to address two specific questions. (1) For which
portant, unresolved question is: Which species in a taxa do corridors direct movement? (2) What are the
landscape will benefit from corridors? magnitudes of the effects of corridors on movement
across taxa? In the discussion, using previously pub-
lished data from this experiment on a subset of the
Manuscript received 7 December 2001; revised 14 June 2002;
accepted 18 July 2002. Corresponding Editor: F. W. Davis. taxa considered in this paper, we examine a third ques-
7 E-mail: nick haddad@ncsu.edu tion: for which taxa do corridors increase emigration?
609
610 NICK M. HADDAD ET AL. Ecology, Vol. 84, No. 3
FIG. 1. Corridor experiment at the Savannah River National Environmental Research Park, South Carolina, USA. Black
areas show patches (128 3 128 m, numbered 1–27) and 10 corridors (32 m wide, varying in length from 64 m to 384 m).
Solid lines show roads, and stippled areas are ponds and streams.
Reports
polionotus (Danielson and Hubbard 2000) and S. his- 3 4 grid of 16 perches in each patch. For P. americana
pidus (Bowne et al. 1999) from this experiment have and R. copallina, naturally occurring individuals were
been published, but the analyses of the effects of cor- removed from the peripheral patches, and seeds of these
ridors on movement direction are new. Although un- species recovered in the peripheral patches were as-
published data comprise the bulk of the paper, we in- sumed to have been dispersed from the center patch,
clude the published results on corridor effects on move- which was the nearest seed source. The two other spe-
ment directions of butterflies because they allow us to cies, I. opaca and M. cerifera, were not eliminated, and
make clean cross-taxonomic comparisons. seed dispersal was tracked by marking seeds in the
Butterflies were studied in daily surveys of all patch- center patch with flourescent microspheres, which are
es between 3 April and 29 June (for detailed methods, defecated with seeds (Levey and Sargent 2000). Fecal
see Haddad 1999a). Each butterfly was captured and samples were collected weekly from 26 August 1996
marked with a unique number. An average of 124 J. to 15 March 1997, and from 3 November 1997 to 10
coenia (range 38–532) and 11 E. claudia (range 1–38)
April 1998, during the peak fruiting season of each
were marked in each patch. Recaptures provided mea-
species (fall 1996 for P. americana, winter 1997 and
sures of movement between all pairs of adjacent patch-
1998 for M. cerifera and R. copallina, and winter 1998
es.
for I. opaca). The numbers of seeds of each species
Adult Sigmodon hispidus were captured at least 13
recovered from fecal samples in each patch were
km from the experimental area, fitted with radio collars,
and released into one of 10 different patches that were summed over the entire season. When a species was
contained within one forest stand (Fig. 1, patches 1– studied for two years, analyses were conducted on the
10; detailed methods are provided in Bowne et al. average numbers of seeds dispersed at each site among
[1999]). Although movement distances of released in- years.
dividuals were expected to be greater than those of Pollination was measured for Passiflora incarnata,
resident individuals, there was no evidence that move- a plant species pollinated by large-bodied bees and
ment direction was biased toward the initial capture wasps. The experiment followed the same design as
area (Bowne et al. 1999). In total, six individuals were that of the seed dispersal study. After naturally occur-
released into each of two different patches, and their ring plants were removed from the patches and corri-
Reports
movements were monitored for 10 consecutive days. dors, 24 individual P. incarnata were planted next to
These releases were repeated until all patches had been trellises in each patch. Pollination was estimated daily
studied once (n 5 10 patches), and were repeated a from 1 July to 14 August by marking flowers in the
second time in six of the same patches. Radio telemetry center patch with fluorescent powder and recording the
permitted direct observations of animal movements be- presence of powder on flowers in peripheral patches.
tween adjacent patches. In addition, pollinators, including large-bodied bees
Peromyscus polionotus were eliminated from three and wasps, were marked during the same period with
blocks of three patches, where the distance between unique tags. Because one species, Xylocopa virginica,
center and peripheral patches was 128 m or 256 m. comprised 90% of marked individuals and was the only
Between 16 and 27 adult female mice were ear-tagged species recaptured, we restrict our discussion to it.
and introduced into nest boxes in the center patch of We used one-tailed t tests to test the hypothesis that
each block (detailed methods are provided in Danielson plants and animals move more frequently between con-
and Hubbard [2000]). In our system, introduced P. po- nected than between unconnected patches. For the sec-
lionotus move more frequently between patches than ond approach just described, where connected and un-
do naturally occurring individuals, but their movement
connected patches both occurred in the same block, we
orientation is not biased (i.e., by homing; J. Brinker-
used paired t tests. Where appropriate, we arcsine-
hoff, unpublished data). After acclimating to the boxes,
transformed proportions or square-root transformed
mice were allowed to move freely. Marked individuals
counts (after adding 0.375) to normalize data (Zar
were recaptured in 18 Sherman traps (Sherman Traps,
Tallahassee, Florida, USA) arranged in a grid in each 1999). Because some of the studies involved small sam-
of the nine patches. Live-trapping was conducted three ple sizes (as low as two or three replicates), we con-
days per week from 1 May to 30 August. Recaptured sidered a corridor effect significant if P , 0.10. For
mice were used to estimate movement between con- cases in which sample sizes were low (n # 3), we
nected and unconnected patches. conducted power analyses to estimate the number of
Seed dispersal of bird-dispersed plants (Ilex opaca, samples needed to detect a significant effect, given the
Myrica cerifera, Phytolacca americana, and Rhus co- values that we recorded (Steidl et al. 1997).
pallina) was studied in 2–4 blocks of three patches Although distances between patches were variable
(depending on plant species), where the distance be- and replicated, many of the studies were not designed
tween patches was 64, 128, 256, or 384 m. Dispersed to test for distance effects on corridor function. Hence,
seeds were collected from avian fecal samples in seed we exclude examination of distance effects in this pa-
traps that were placed under perches positioned in a 4 per.
612 NICK M. HADDAD ET AL. Ecology, Vol. 84, No. 3
Reports
FIG. 2. Plant and animal movement between connected and unconnected patches. Panels (A)–(D) and (J) show the mean
(11 SE) proportion of individuals that were marked in one patch and moved to a connected or unconnected patch. Panels
(E)–(H) show the mean (11 SE) number of bird-dispersed seeds that moved from center patches to connected or unconnected
patches. Panel (I) shows the mean (11 SE ) proportion of flowers in connected or unconnected patches with fluorescent powder.
Data for butterflies are adapted from (Haddad 1999a). Asterisks indicate significance levels: * P , 0.10; ** P , 0.05; ***
P , 0.01.
difference in movement into connected vs. unconnected that corridors influence the movement directions in
patches (means 5 0.181 vs. 0.057, respectively) was these landscapes of many species with very dissimilar
generated by a single outlier that, when removed, re- features.
duces mean movement to connected patches from 0.181 Other previously published results from our exper-
to 0.117. This statistical result, based on an analysis iment allow us to answer our third question for a subset
with large sample size, led us to conclude that this of the taxa: for which taxa do corridors increase em-
species does not move preferentially between con- igration? In those studies (Bowne et al. 1999, Haddad
nected patches. 1999a, Danielson and Hubbard 2000), corridors did not
Movements of four other species appeared to be di- influence the number of emigrants of any species for
rected by corridors, but our results were inconclusive, which this response was measured, including butterflies
probably due to low sample size. For one plant species (Junonia coenia and Euptoieta claudia) and small
(Ilex opaca, Fig. 2H), the bee species (Xylocopa vir- mammals (Peromyscus polionotus and Sigmodon his-
ginica, Fig. 2J), and the pollination study (Fig. 2I), pidus). Although there are species in other landscapes
sample sizes were two blocks each and analyses were that are highly restricted in habitat use and that would
not possible. In the pollination study, the plant, Pas- never leave a patch through unsuitable habitat (or
siflora incarnata, established in only two of four blocks would be unsuccessful emigrants if they did), our re-
where they were planted. For another plant species, sults suggest that emigration of our study species is
Phytolacca americana, samples were gathered from not determined by landscape pattern.
three blocks and analysis was possible, yielding t 5 Given the consistent patterns across most of the spe-
1.88 and P 5 0.100 (Fig. 2G). The importance of low cies that we studied, we are tempted to draw more
sample size can be illustrated by a power analysis for general conclusions about the effects of corridors on
P. americana. Despite the large corridor effect on movement. However, landscape connectivity is an at-
movement (over five times as many seeds were recov- tribute both of the species and of the landscape in which
ered in connected than in unconnected patches), power that species resides (Weins and Milne 1989, Beier and
analysis indicated that we would have needed a sample Noss 1998, Tischendorf and Fahrig 2000). Our study
size of four to detect a statistically significant differ- species, which comprise a diverse set of natural-history
ence. strategies and evolutionarily independent groups, are
Reports
not representative of all of the species that occur in our
DISCUSSION landscape. In fact, we biased our selection of species
Using the results of our study on 10 taxa, we can toward those that we thought were likely to respond to
answer two questions raised in the Introduction about corridors based on their habitat preferences and, in
corridor effects on movement. In answer to our first some cases, on their movement abilities relative to oth-
question, our results demonstrate that corridors in our er species in their respective taxa. Our experiment was
experimental landscapes consistently direct the move- designed to exploit the strong contrast between open-
ment of diverse taxa. These results include the first ings (patches and corridors) and pine forest (the ma-
demonstration that corridors affect interpatch move- trix). Thus, our choice of species within these land-
ments of plants. Interestingly, corridor effects on move- scapes probably did impact our consistent finding of
ment were detected even without controlling for other corridor effects on movement direction.
known important factors that are not correlated with In addition, the life histories and movement behav-
the presence of a corridor but that influence movement, iors of individual species influence their movement
such as abundances of butterfly host and nectar plants through corridors. The birds that dispersed seeds in our
(Haddad 1999a). Even though other sources of envi- study (primarily Yellow-rumped Warblers, Dendroica
ronmental variation in our experiment may have influ- coronata, and Eastern Bluebirds, Sialia sialis) are large
enced movement, the response to corridors overrode and highly vagile relative to the other species in our
such effects. study, and frequently move across large distances re-
In answer to our second question, the effects of cor- gardless of corridors. However, the dispersal patterns
ridors on movement direction were uniformly large. of bird-dispersed seeds are not determined by bird dis-
For all 10 species, at least 68% more individuals moved persal ability alone. Importantly, gut retention times
to connected than to unconnected patches. The low are typically ,1 h in small (,30 g) frugivorous birds
probability that 10 species would show the same pos- (Levey and del Rio 1999). Within this time frame, cor-
itive responses to corridors by chance alone (calculated ridors appear to influence the local foraging behavior
as 0.59, i.e., ,0.01) led us to conclude that the corridor of birds, thus determining the dispersal of seeds. Like-
effect is generally significant. This effect was statis- wise, large bees are able to move many kilometers
tically significant for five species, not significant for between nests and foraging sites (Cunningham 2000).
one species, and inconclusive (because of low repli- However, they may use corridors during short-term for-
cation) for four species. The species that we studied aging, which will impact the plants that they pollinate.
spanned a large range of body sizes, locomotory Finally, although there was a remarkably consistent and
modes, and trophic levels. Thus, our results suggest large corridor effect on movement direction across the
614 NICK M. HADDAD ET AL. Ecology, Vol. 84, No. 3
species that we studied, there is no obvious pattern in creases in movement to connected patches strongly
the relationship between taxa and the size of the cor- suggest, but do not demonstrate, the value of corridors.
ridor effect (Fig. 3). In the one group for which we have population data,
With regard to species-specific responses to corri- butterfly species that used corridors for movement also
dors, it is instructive to ask why one species, S. his- had higher population sizes in connected than in un-
pidus, did not show a corridor response. We propose connected patches (Haddad and Baum 1999). However,
two explanations. First, we expected species that pre- all species in our study make movements across the
ferred second-growth habitat to disperse through cor- matrix (although not recorded in our capture–recapture
ridors of the same habitat type. S. hispidus is much studies, Xylocopa virginica has been observed by one
more abundant in open habitats than in forest (Golley of us (T. Spira) to move through the matrix). Such
et al. 1965). In addition to habitat preference, however, movements between isolated patches might be suffi-
movement behaviors, including aversion to movement cient to rescue populations and maintain genetic di-
through unsuitable habitat, also influence responses to versity (Simberloff et al. 1992, Beier and Noss 1998).
corridors. Such behavioral responses were measured in More work is needed to understand how differences in
another group of published studies from our experi- movement impact plant and animal populations.
ment. The movement paths of individuals were mapped We have shown that corridors are effective at di-
by radio-tracking Sigmodon hispidus (Bowne et al. recting the dispersal of diverse taxa. These taxa are
1999) and by visually tracking three butterfly species important in a broad range of community functions,
(Haddad 1999b). S. hispidus preferentially emigrated including herbivory, pollination, seed predation, and
from patches through corridors (Bowne et al. 1999), seed dispersal. Given the breadth of species that re-
although, as previously demonstrated, this behavior did spond to corridors, our results suggest that corridors
not affect their ultimate destination. For butterflies, two may have broader, community-wide impacts. This pos-
of three species (Phoebis sennae and Eurema nicippe) sibility is typically overlooked by studies of single spe-
were found to preferentially leave patches through cor- cies. Taken together, our results suggest that corridors
ridors and to use corridors for movement (Haddad have the potential to be valuable tools for landscape-
1999b), whereas a third (Papilio troilus) showed no scale conservation of diverse taxa and the biological
preference for, or use of, corridors. A second expla- processes that they direct.
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