Title Participants Abstract "The effects of clonal integration on the responses of plant species to habitat loss and habitat fragmentation" "Zhixia Ying, Gang Ge, Yongjie Liu" "Exploring the mechanism of plant species persistence in fragmented landscapes has already become a major issue in spatial ecology. Most of previous models predicted that habitat loss and fragmentation negatively impact plant species persistence, while empirical studies found diverse responses of plant species to habitat fragmentation, suggesting that some critical process may be overlooked in these models. Clonal species has the ability to well explore the resources under habitat fragmentation via clonal integration. However, responses of such species to habitat fragmentation have rarely been considered, especially in the aforementioned models. Here we developed a pair approximation model by considering clonal integration to explore the underlying mechanism of species' diverse responses to habitat fragmentation. The persistence of global dispersers (i.e. species with seed reproduction) depends on habitat loss not habitat fragmentation, whereas the persistence of local dispersers (i.e. species with clonal reproduction) or mixed dispersers (i.e. species with both seed and clonal reproduction) is influenced by both habitat loss and habitat fragmentation. Furthermore, habitat fragmentation shows diverse effects (i.e., positive, neutral or negative effects) on the persistence of local dispersers or mixed dispersers via clonal integration. Our results provide theoretical guidance for species conservation, which highlights the crucial role of species' ecological traits in response to habitat loss and fragmentation." "Modelling plant population size and extinction thresholds from habitat loss and habitat fragmentation" "Jinbao Liao, Zhenqing Li, David E. Hiebeler, Magda El-Bana, Gaby Deckmyn, Ivan Nijs" "Habitat destruction is a key determinant of species extinction. Its principle components, habitat fragmentation and habitat loss, affect species persistence in landscapes, but few models have investigated how dispersal type and intraspecific competition (crowding effect) modulate this. If dispersal type or crowding changes extinction thresholds, then fragmentation and habitat loss might act differently on different species. Here we generate fragmented landscapes by varying the orthogonal neighbouring correlation between suitable and unsuitable habitat. We show that local dispersers undergo a strong negative impact of habitat fragmentation (lower occupancy of suitable sites), but only under severe habitat loss. In contrast, global dispersal eliminated fragmentation effects through random establishment. Both fragmentation and crowding effects enhanced the extinction risk of species that spread their seeds at close range, while long-range dispersers were not influenced. However, fragmentation improved the persistence of global dispersers that are highly sensitive to crowding, probably through reduced intraspecific competition. With respect to species conservation, our results suggest that random habitat destruction is a more serious threat to species persistence than clustered habitat destruction. Moreover, as species responses to habitat fragmentation depend on dispersal type and sensitivity to crowding, fragmented landscapes with different properties may accommodate different species." "Conservation of remnant populations of Colchicum autumnale - The relative importance of local habitat quality and habitat fragmentation" "Dries Adriaens, Hans Jacquemyn, Olivier Honnay, Martin Hermy" "Semi-natural habitat is extremely vulnerable to habitat fragmentation and degradation since its socio-economic value has decreased substantially during the last century in most parts of Europe. We evaluated the relative effects of habitat fragmentation and local environmental conditions on population structure and reproductive performance of the long-lived corm geophyte Colchicum autumnale in 17 highly fragmented populations. Habitat isolation did not affect patch occupancy, population structure or plant performance. in contrast, population size and local environment strongly affected population structure and reproductive performance. Densities of all life stages increased with increasing population size. Large populations also showed a higher reproductive performance and a larger proportion of new recruits. Relationships with local growth conditions pointed towards the importance of an open grassland sward for flower and fruit set and the presence of microsites for successful sexual recruitment. These results suggest that the distribution of C. autumnale consists of an assemblage of basically unconnected populations that are remnants of formerly larger populations. This is in accordance with the species' ability to grow clonally, allowing long-term persistence under deteriorating conditions that occurred during a long period of habitat fragmentation. In conclusion, our results indicate that local habitat and population size are more important than habitat fragmentation (i.e. calcareous grassland isolation and surface area) and argue in favour of a management that is primarily focused on local habitat restoration. This is preferentially accomplished by reintroducing grazing practices, complemented by regular setback of spontaneous succession towards forest. (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved." "A global analysis of habitat fragmentation research in reptiles and amphibians : what have we done so far?" "W. C. Tan, Anthony Herrel, D. Rödder" "Habitat fragmentation shapes natal dispersal and sociality in an Afrotropical cooperative breeder" "Laurence Cousseau, Martijn Hammers, Dries Van de Loock, Beate Apfelbeck, Mwangi Githiru, Erik Matthysen, Luc Lens" "Robustness of metacommunities with omnivory to habitat destruction : disentangling patch fragmentation from patch loss" "Jinbao Liao, Daniel Bearup, Yeqiao Wang, Ivan Nijs, Dries Bonte, Yuanheng Li, Ulrich Brose, Shaopeng Wang, Bernd Blasius" "The impact of habitat fragmentation on tsetse abundance on the plateau of eastern Zambia" "Els Ducheyne, Cornelius Mweempa, Claudia De Pus, Hilde Vernieuwe, Reginald De Deken, Guy Hendrickx, Peter Van den Bossche" "Habitat loss and fragmentation increase realized predator-prey body size ratios" "Jasmijn Hillaert, Martijn L. Vandegehuchte, Thomas Hovestadt, Dries Bonte" "Information use during movement regulates how fragmentation and loss of habitat affect body size" "Jasmijn Hillaert, Martijn L. Vandegehuchte, Thomas Hovestadt, Dries Bonte" "Plant conservation in a changing world: modelling range dynamics, climate adaptation, and effects of habitat fragmentation" "Frederik Van Daele" "Climate change can alter the physical and biological parameters of existing habitats, shifting environmental variables beyond the range for which native plant species are adapted. These changes compel plant species to either adapt to new conditions or migrate to areas where conditions remain suitable. Concurrently, habitat fragmentation reduces the amount of suitable habitat and impedes plant species' ability to migrate, thereby reducing the genetic diversity within isolated populations. These stressors interact to amplify each other's impacts, thereby escalating the vulnerabilities of plant species. The accelerated pace of climate change often exceeds both the capacity for plant species to adapt or migrate, leaving them vulnerable to decline or extinction. In a rapidly changing world, effective plant conservation hinges on a nuanced understanding of how species interact with, adapt to, and persist within their environments. To safeguard plant species facing concurrent environmental stressors, there's a pressing need to develop integrated tools that can accurately forecast their eco-evolutionary responses to climate adaptation and habitat fragmentation. Utilising an interdisciplinary approach that includes species distribution modelling, conservation genomics, and experimental ecology, this study has developed complementary models that serve as a critical foundation for devising dynamic and resilient conservation strategies. To develop integrated conservation tools that enable effective implementation of proactive mitigation strategies, Primula elatior was chosen as a representative model species for plants that have high habitat fidelity, display climate sensitivity, and are sensitive to habitat fragmentation. Its geographical distribution along the Atlantic Biogeographic Region facilitates the study of local adaptation to varying climate conditions. The species is notably vulnerable to drought, providing a unique perspective for evaluating the effects of climate change on plant survival and reproduction. Additionally, P. elatior exhibits a herkogamous, self-incompatible mating system, making it an ideal candidate for investigating how mating systems are influenced by eco-evolutionary feedback loops in fragmented habitats. Its limited seed dispersal and constrained colonisation aptly reflect the challenges faced by many European forest herbs, thereby offering broader ecological insights. Moreover, the species' distylous flowers and bee-dependent pollination present a case study for the sensitivity to Allee-effects commonly found in self-incompatible European forest herbs, further solidifying its value as a model for studying the intertwined ecological and evolutionary consequences of habitat fragmentation. First, to evaluate the fundamental niche, a high-resolution species distribution model was developed using landscape and macro-climatic variables in order to model the range-wide habitat suitability for P. elatior. Second, to evaluate the accessible niche, a fine-grained genetically optimised dispersal model was developed to simulate spatio- temporal dispersal patterns among habitat patches. Third, in our quest to evaluate population persistence, a proximity resistance index was calculated to predict the meta-population stability. By simulating spatio-temporal patterns in the accessible niche and meta-population stability, we could identify habitat-specific conservation and mitigation strategies for ecological restoration. Next, through the integration of genetically optimised dispersal models with state-of-the-art landscape genomics, it became possible to predict climate sensitivity, a crucial metric encapsulating both genomic offset and adaptive potential. Furthermore, landscape ecological methods were employed to evaluate the impact of habitat fragmentation on the adaptive genomic architecture of P. elatior. Lastly, to evaluate the impact of varying environmental conditions on plant adaptive responses, a common garden experiment was conducted. This experiment involved P. elatior progeny from populations along a climate cline and varying levels of habitat fragmentation, enabling a comprehensive assessment of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity. The eco-evolutionary dynamics of climate adaptation and habitat fragmentation compound to jeopardise the accessible distribution range and meta-population stability of P. elatior. The species faces severe limitations in its ability to naturally migrate to new favourable habitats, severely affecting species persistence. Moreover, our genomic analyses caution against relying solely on assisted migration strategies, particularly from southern source populations, due to their low adaptive capacities and risk of non-climatic maladaptation. These multi-layered challenges not only impede natural dispersal but also diminish the species' evolutionary capacity to adapt to changing climatic conditions. Furthermore, habitat fragmentation disrupts established climate clines of several traits, hampers drought tolerance, and alters mating system adaptations, as evidenced by the common garden experiment and field survey of herkogamy. These eco-evolutionary consequences highlight the necessity for integrated conservation approaches that are both multi-faceted and regionally tailored, encompassing habitat restoration, carefully planned assisted migration, and continuous monitoring of genetic diversity and adaptability."