Meeting Abstract
The underlying mechanisms of what determines a species’ range is a fundamental question in ecology and has garnered much attention due to the biodiversity crisis. The majority of species distribution models have focused on gradients in habitat suitability. However, due to dispersal limitation and landscape configuration (collectively called landscape connectivity), individuals often do not occupy all patches of suitable habitat. Using cricket frogs (Acris blanchardi) as a model system, we tested the hypothesis that gradients in habitat suitability and landscape connectivity interact to determine a species’ realized distribution. We used a combination of species surveys, species distribution models (SDM using MaxEnt), and landscape connectivity models to address this hypothesis. Our SDM indicates that habitat suitability was influenced by annual mean temperature and land cover. Using call surveys, we found that cricket frogs have a patchy distribution, which can be explained by habitat suitability, in the interior of their range. However, at the edge of the range other factors become important. In the face of rapid ecological changes, it is imperative that methods are developed to assess the status and management species at large geographic scales. By combining SDM with landscape connectivity, this study offers a method for informed species management at a landscape level.
