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Spatial and Biological Aspects of Reserve Design

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Abstract

The optimal spatial design of protected reserves requires attention to the biological mechanisms underlying community organization, and sustaining ecosystem services. Identifying the key mechanisms is especially difficult in species-rich ecosystems. We investigate the example of the tropical rainforest, a biome that is under threat of continuing fragmentation, yet which shelters the majority of living species on Earth. Simple dynamic and spatially explicit simulations, which model the dynamics of plant communities, allow us to elucidate the interplay between patterns of fragmentation and seed dispersal mechanisms in maintaining biodiversity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08544-1003, USA

    Jerome Chave, Kerstin Wiegand & Simon Levin

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  1. Jerome Chave
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  2. Kerstin Wiegand
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  3. Simon Levin
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Chave, J., Wiegand, K. & Levin, S. Spatial and Biological Aspects of Reserve Design. Environmental Modeling & Assessment 7, 115–122 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015601800181

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