Letícia Soares

Lost in Space

October 4th, 2011

Reserve design and the SLOSS debate

Debate origins

Theory sustaining the controversy

What to focus in order to solve the problem

Papers for discussion

Outline

Metapopulation models to access species richness in habitat patches.

Should refuges always consist of the largest possible single area?

Single Large or Several Small?When everything started

Experimentally isolated Red Mangrove forestSpecies richness of canopy arthropods.

Single Large or Several Small?When everything started

Archipelago A supports the idea that a cluster of smaller patches might support more species than a single larger patch.

Single Large or Several Small?When everything started

Single large always assumed to be the best strategy.

Empirical evidence was showing the value of several small.

Which way to go when planning conservation reserves?

Understanding the real debate

1) Species area relationship

Why single large is intuitively good

S = cAz ; c=constant; z=slope

log(S) = log(c) + zlog(A)

Larger areas = higher habitat diversity = more species

Species area relationship – is that always true?

Why single large is intuitively good

Area response depends on the trophic groupDisruption of specific interactions

Small patches accumulate species faster than larger patches.

Habitat diversity

Small patches are important for overall species richness