Abstract
Negative effects of habitat fragmentation on individual performance have been widely documented, but relatively little is known about how simultaneous effects on multiple vital rates translate into effects on population viability in long-lived species. In this study, we examined relationships between population size, individual growth, survival and reproduction, and population growth rate in the perennial plant Phyteuma spicatum. Population size positively affected the growth of seedlings, the survival of juveniles, the proportion of adults flowering, and potential seed production. Analyses with integral projection models, however, showed no relationship between population size and population growth rate. This was due to the fact that herbivores and pathogens eliminated the relationship between population size and seed production, and that population growth rate was not sensitive to changes in the vital rates that varied with population size. We conclude that effects of population size on vital rates must not translate into effects on population growth rate, and that populations of long-lived organisms may partly be able to buffer negative effects of small population size on vital rates that have a relatively small influence on population growth rate. Our study illustrates that we need to be cautious when assessing the consequences of habitat fragmentation for population viability based on effects on only one or a few vital rates.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
Population size positively affected seedling growth and juvenile survival in Phyteuma spicatum.
- Taxon
- Phyteuma spicatum
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Phyteuma spicatume0 - Treatment
- Population sizee1
- Outcome
- growth of seedlings, the survival of juvenilese1
- Direction
- positivelye1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“in the perennial plant Phyteuma spicatum”
e1“Population size positively affected the growth of seedlings, the survival of juveniles”
Claim · model-written summary
Population size positively affected the proportion of adults flowering and potential seed production in Phyteuma spicatum.
- Taxon
- Phyteuma spicatumPhyteuma spicatume0
- Treatment
- Population sizee1
- Outcome
- the proportion of adults flowering, and potential seed productione2
- Direction
- positivelye1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“in the perennial plant Phyteuma spicatum”
e1“Population size positively”
e2“the proportion of adults flowering, and potential seed production”
Claim · model-written summary
Integral projection model analyses showed no relationship between population size and population growth rate.
- Taxon
- Phyteuma spicatumPhyteuma spicatume0
- Treatment
- population sizee1
- Outcome
- population growth ratee1
- Direction
- no relationshipe1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“in the perennial plant Phyteuma spicatum”
e1“Analyses with integral projection models, however, showed no relationship between population size and population growth rate”
Claim · model-written summary
Herbivores and pathogens eliminated the relationship between population size and seed production.
- Taxon
- Phyteuma spicatumPhyteuma spicatume0
- Interactor
- herbivorese1herbivore
- Second interactor
- pathogense1pathogen
- Outcome
- relationship between population size and seed productione1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“in the perennial plant Phyteuma spicatum”
e1“herbivores and pathogens eliminated the relationship between population size and seed production”
Claim · model-written summary
Population growth rate was not sensitive to changes in the vital rates that varied with population size.
- Taxon
- Phyteuma spicatumPhyteuma spicatume0
- Outcome
- population growth rate was not sensitive to changes in the vital ratese1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“in the perennial plant Phyteuma spicatum”
e1“population growth rate was not sensitive to changes in the vital rates that varied with population size”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors conclude that caution is needed when assessing consequences of habitat fragmentation for population viability based on effects on only one or a few vital rates.
- Taxon
- Phyteuma spicatumPhyteuma spicatume0
- Outcome
- assessing the consequences of habitat fragmentation for population viabilitye1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“in the perennial plant Phyteuma spicatum”
e1“we need to be cautious when assessing the consequences of habitat fragmentation for population viability based on effects on only one or a few vital rates”