One of the most popular strategies to overcome the negative effects of habitat fragmentation is to link otherwise isolated patches with corridors. However, the assumption that corridors facilitate plant and animal movement and increase their population sizes, a central tenet of conservation biology, has been virtually untested. These investigators will conduct large scale experiments of corridor effects on plants and animals, and determine the efficacy of corridors as conservation tools in human dominated landscapes. The study will occur in cooperation with the US Forest Service at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in South Carolina. The study has three primary objectives: 1) to test the hypothesis that corridors increase movement between connected patches, 2) to test the hypothesis that corridors increase plant and animal abundances in connected patches, and 3) to test the hypothesis that corridors increase species abundances in less isolated patches on the scale of forest management activities in this region. Using data from the field experiments, the PIs will parameterize GIS-based simulation models to determine the value of corridors in human dominated landscapes. The combined results of these studies in experimental and managed landscapes will generate the most far-reaching, definitive test of corridor effects on plant and animal populations, and their relevance to conservation in fragmented landscapes.
