Spatial and biological aspects of reserve design

Abstract

The optimal spatial design of protected reserves requires attention to the biological mechanisms underlying community organization, and sustaining ecosystem services. Identifying the key mechanisms is especially difficult in species-rich ecosystems. We investigate the example of the tropical rainforest, a biome that is under threat of continuing fragmentation, yet which shelters the majority of living species on Earth. Simple dynamic and spatially explicit simulations, which model the dynamics of plant communities, allow us to elucidate the interplay between patterns of fragmentation and seed dispersal mechanisms in maintaining biodiversity.