Community Ecology
Spatial dynamics of communities: island biogeography
Outline:
1. Islands as objects of interest
2. Island biogeography: MacArthur and Wilson 1967
A. Extinction and colonization rates as functions of island size and distance (respectively)
from mainland
B. Empirical tests of IB: Simberloff’s work on arthropods in Florida mangroves
3. Terrestrial analogs of oceanic islands: habitat patches
A. Applying IB to terrestrial systems for conservation purposes/reserve design
i. Diamond’s "design principles"
ii. SLOSS
a. tests
b. debate: area per se (Diamond and others) vs. habitat diversity and
spreading of risk (Simberloff and others)
c. nestedness
B. Terrestrial patches are not true analogs of oceanic islands
i. Brown’s work on mammals on mountaintops
ii. Lovejoy’s Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project in Brazil
Terms/people:
island (insular) biogeography
Dan Simberloff
Tom Lovejoy
Diamond’s “design principles”
Target effect
Robert MacArthur
SLOSS
defaunate
turnover
passive sampling
Ed Wilson
Jim Brown
nestedness
rescue effect
Islands as objects of mystery, intrigue, and scientific curiosity.
biogeography: study of the distribution of organisms
"Insularity is...a universal feature of biogeography. Many of the principles [seen on
islands] apply in lesser or greater degree to all natural habitats." (MacArthur and Wilson 1967)
Theory of island (or insular) biogeography: MacArthur and Wilson 1967 (see Fig. 2.15 in
Mittelbach text)
Immigration is most strongly associated with island __________________.
Extinction is most strongly associated with island ____________________.
Rescue effect Target effect Passive sampling Tested empirically by Simberloff and Wilson 1969 (also Wilson and Simberloff 1969) in
mangrove systems
Applications to terrestrial analogs  conservation ecology:
Diamond 1975: derived "design principles"
SLOSS debate
Answer depends on nestedness?
importance of area per se  conserve for habitat diversity and for spreading of risk
instead of area?
Margules et al. (1982) warn against use of design principles without empirical data.
The legacies of IB:
1. Focus on spatial properties such as area and isolation.
2. Interest in the fragility of island (or refuge) communities and the causes of this fragility.
3. Development of quantitative rules for refuge design.
Thus, while IB provides a nice model, we need a more realistic way to study communities.
Island biogeography, E.O Wilson and Dan Simberloff:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/lord-ants.html (an hour-long show on the life of E.O.
Wilson; go to 34:57 and watch to 41:20)
Next time: Spatial dynamics of communities: landscape ecology
References:
Bierregaard, R.O., Jr., T.E. Lovejoy, V. Kapos, A.A. dos Santos, and R.W. Hutchings. 1992. The
biological dynamics of tropical forest fragments. BioScience 42:859-866.
Brown, J.H. 1971. Mammals on mountaintops: nonequilibrium insular biogeography. Am. Nat.
105:467-478.
Coleman, B.D., M.A. Mares, M.R. Willig, and Y.H. Hsieh. 1982. Randomness, area, and
species richness. Ecology 63:1121-1133.
Diamond, J.M. 1975. The island dilemma: lessons of modern biogeographic studies for the
design of nature reserves. Biol. Conserv. 7:129-146.
Gilbert, F.S. 1980. The equilibrium theory of island biogeography: fact or fiction? J. Biogeogr.
7:209-235.
Gotelli, N.J. 2001. A Primer of Ecology, 3rd ed. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA.
Janzen, D.H. 1983. No park is an island: increase in interference from outside as park size
decreases. Oikos 41:402-410.
Laurance, W.F., S.G. Laurance, V.F. Ferreira, J.M. Rankin-de Merona, C. Gaston, and T.E.
Lovejoy. 1997. Biomass collapse in Amazonian forest fragments. Science 278:1117-1118.
Losos, J.B., and R.E. Ricklefs, eds. 2010. The Theory of Island Biogeography Revisited.
Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
MacArthur, R.H., and E.O. Wilson. 1967. The Theory of Island Biogeography. Princeton
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Margules, C., A.J. Higgs, and R.W. Rafe. 1982. Modern biogeographical theory: are there any
lessons for nature reserve design? Biological Conservation 24:115-128.
May, R.M. 1975. Island biogeography and the design of wildlife preserves. Nature 254:177-178.
Quammen, D. 1996. The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions.
Touchstone, New York, NY. [a very readable book about island biogeography]
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Simberloff, D.S. 1976. Experimental zoogeography of islands: effects of island size. Ecology
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Simberloff, D.S. 1988. The contribution of population and community biology to conservation
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Simberloff, D.S., and L.G. Abele. 1976. Island biogeography theory and conservation practice.
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Simberloff, D.S., and L.G. Abele. 1982. Refuge design and island biogeographic theory: effects
of fragmentation. Am. Nat. 120:41-50.
Simberloff, D.S., and E.O. Wilson. 1969. Experimental zoogeography of islands: the
colonization of empty islands. Ecology 50:278-296.
Stouffer, P.C., and R.O. Bierregaard, Jr. 1995. Use of Amazonian forest fragments by understory
insectivorous birds. Ecology 76:2429-2445.
Terborgh, J. 1976. Island biogeography and conservation: Strategy and limitations. Science
193:1029-1030.
Thomas, J.W., E.D. Forsman, J.L. Lint, E.C. Meslow, B.R. Noon, and J. Verner. 1990. A
conservation strategy for the northern spotted owl. Report of the Interagency Scientific
Committee to Address the Conservation of the Northern Spotted Owl. Portland, OR.
Whittaker, R.J., and J.M. Fernández-Palacios. 2007. Island Biogeography: Ecology, Evolution,
and Conservation (2nd ed.). Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.