Figure 1

Connectivity along a temporal gradient. (a) Windows of connectivity in systems (examples below arrow) fall along a temporal gradient controlled by the frequency of change in matrix conditions. This gradient ranges from systems where windows of connectivity are short and infrequent (right, blue region of arrow) to systems where windows of connectivity open seasonally or very frequently (left, red region of the arrow). As connectivity increases, the immigration rate is also predicted to increase, leading to heightened effects of connectivity as one moves along the temporal gradient (text above arrow). (b) We predict that connectivity and its benefits to population persistence should increase as one moves along the temporal gradient from static landscapes (dashed line) to increasingly dynamic landscapes (solid lines with colors representing placement of landscape on gradient). In addition, static landscapes have a threshold amount of habitat (red dashed line) at which point minimal decreases in habitat amount cause a rapid decrease in connectivity (With et al. 1997). However, dynamic habitats tend to show a linear relationship between habitat amount, and connectivity lacks a similar threshold (Hanski [6]).