Grassy field margins as potential corridors for butterflies in agricultural landscapes: A simulation study

0356803 - ÚVGZ 2011 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Delattre, T. - Pichancourt, J.- B. - Burel, F. - Kindlmann, Pavel
Grassy field margins as potential corridors for butterflies in agricultural landscapes: A simulation study.
Ecological Modelling. Roč. 221, č. 2 (2010), s. 370-377. ISSN 0304-3800. E-ISSN 1872-7026
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LC06073
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520
Keywords : Connectivity * Grassland * Dispersal
Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour
Impact factor: 1.769, year: 2010

A simulation study Over the last decades, agricultural intensification has caused a dramatic reduction of grassy habitats. As a part of the cross-compliance measures of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, subsidies for creation and maintenance of grassy field margins (GFM) have been launched. Their role as corridors has, however, not yet been demonstrated at the landscape scale. One possibility to get some predictions of their outcomes is provided by simulation models. Here we present our simulation results, using an extension of the model developed by Kindlmann et al. (2004). Our simulations show that GFMs increase the dispersal rates between habitat patches and we predict the optimal combinations of width and number of GFMs in the landscape. This way we provide a decision-making tool for increasing landscape connectivity for M. jurtina and similar species. They may be generalized because this species shows dispersal rates that are typical of butterfly metapopulations.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0195232