Dynamic Habitat Disturbance and Ecological Resilience (DyHDER): modeling population responses to habitat condition

• Published in: Ecosphere (Washington, D.C) Vol. 11; no. 1
• Main Authors: Murphy, Brendan P., Walsworth, Timothy E., Belmont, Patrick, Conner, Mary M., Budy, Phaedra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.01.2020; Wiley
• Subjects: Climate change; Creeks & streams; Density dependence; dispersal; Disturbances; DyHDER; Ecological adaptation; ecological resilience; ecosystems; Emigration; habitat destruction; habitat disturbance; Habitat utilization; Habitats; Immigration; landscapes; managers; metapopulation; Metapopulations; Oncorhynchus clarkii; Population; population model; population viability analysis; River networks; rivers; Subpopulations; time series analysis; Utah; Utah
• ISSN: 2150-8925; 2150-8925
• DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3023

Understanding how populations respond to spatially heterogeneous habitat disturbance is as critical to conservation as it is challenging. Here, we present a new, free, and open‐source metapopulation model: Dynamic Habitat Disturbance and Ecological Resilience (DyHDER), which incorporates subpopulation habitat condition and connectivity into a population viability analysis framework. Modeling temporally dynamic and spatially explicit habitat disturbance of varying magnitude and duration is accomplished through the use of habitat time‐series data and a mechanistic approach to adjusting subpopulation vital rates. Additionally, DyHDER uses a probabilistic dispersal model driven by site‐specific habitat suitability, density dependence, and directionally dependent connectivity. In the first application of DyHDER, we explore how fragmentation and projected climate change are predicted to impact a well‐studied Bonneville cutthroat trout metapopulation in the Logan River (Utah, USA). The DyHDER model predicts which subpopulations are most susceptible to disturbance, as well as the potential interactions between stressors. Further, the model predicts how populations may be expected to redistribute following disturbance. This information is valuable to conservationists and managers faced with protecting populations of conservation concern across landscapes undergoing changing disturbance regimes. The DyHDER model provides a valuable and generalizable new tool to explore metapopulation resilience to spatially and temporally dynamic stressors for a diverse range of taxa and ecosystems.