Fragment size does not matter when you are well connected: effects of fragmentation on fitness of coexisting gypsophiles

Plant Biology
Silvia MatesanzA Escudero

Abstract

Most habitat fragmentation studies have focused on the effects of population size on reproductive success of single species, but studies assessing the effects of both fragment size and connectivity, and their interaction, on several coexisting species are rare. In this study, we selected 20 fragments along two continuous gradients of size and degree of isolation in a gypsum landscape in central Spain. In each fragment, we selected 15 individuals of each of three dominant gypsophiles (Centaurea hyssopifolia, Lepidium subulatum and Helianthemum squamatum, 300 plants per species, 900 plants in total) and measured several reproductive traits: inflorescence number, fruit set, seed set and seed mass. We hypothesised that plant fitness would be lower on small and isolated fragments due to an interaction between fragment size and connectivity, and that response patterns would be species-specific. Overall, fragment size had very little effect on reproductive traits compared to that of connectivity. We observed a positive effect of fragment connectivity on C. hyssopifolia fitness, mediated by the increased seed predation in plants from isolated fragments, resulting in fewer viable seeds per capitulum and lower seed set. Furthermore, seed...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Jul 19, 2017·Plant Biology·S SantamaríaA Escudero
Feb 23, 2020·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Amparo LázaroØrjan Totland
Jan 29, 2021·PeerJ·Irene Martín-RodríguezAlfredo García-Fernández

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