Skip to main content
Entomology 2021 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
In-Person
In-Person
Livestream
Livestream
On-Demand
On-Demand
Student Competition
Student Competition
Video Chat
Video Chat
Ticketed Event
Ticketed Event
Poster Icons
Student Competition
Student Competition
In-Person
In-Person
Poster
Poster
On-Demand
On-Demand
Video Q&A ViewAttendees 3

Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

Student Competition 10-Minute Paper

Grad SysEB: Conservation, Ecology, and Other On-Demand Presentations

Taxa-specific responses to habitat patch characteristics for insect movement and persistence within a fragmented landscape

On-Demand
Student Competition On-Demand
Species, landscape, and habitat patch characteristics influence the persistence of species within and the movement of individuals between habitat patches in fragmented landscapes. However, while species and landscape characteristics have received a lot of attention, patch characteristics such as area, perimeter-area ratio, and shape are mainly studied for their effect on persistence within patches and not for their role in movement. In this study, we investigated how these three patch traits influence the persistence and movement of beetles (Order: Coleoptera), bees (Clade Anthophila), and thrips (Order: Thysanoptera) - three taxa that vary in their resource requirements and dispersal abilities. We sampled insect communities in experimental glades and the adjacent forest matrix using flight-intercept traps in June and August in 2018 and 2019. These patches are one of two shapes (circle or star), three areas, and three perimeter-area ratios, allowing us to isolate the effects of area, perimeter-area ratio, and shape. We found taxa-specific responses to habitat patch characteristics. Beetle persistence was primarily associated with increased patch area while movement between the glade and forest was lower for large, star-shaped glades than large, circle-shaped glades. Bees had increased persistence and movement with more complex patch shapes that simultaneously maximized area and perimeter-area ratio. Thrip persistence within patches was associated with higher perimeter-area ratios. Conservation activities in fragmented landscapes that influence patch traits should evaluate the potential impacts on target and non-target species to avoid simultaneously improving conditions for beneficial (e.g., bees) and pestiferous (e.g., thrips) insects.