Determinants of functional connectivity of fragmented holm oak woodlands: Fragment size and mouse foraging behavior.

TERESA MORÁN LÓPEZ; JUAN JOSÉ ROBLEDO ARNUNCIO; MARIO DÍAZ ESTEBAN; JUAN MANUEL MORALES; ANA LAZARO NOGAL; ZAIDA LORENZO; FERNANDO VALLADARES ROS

FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016 vol. 368

0378-1127

Demographic and genetic connectivity of fragmented plant populations will depend on effective propagule flow across the landscape. We analyze functional connectivity in a holm oak (Quercus ilex) fragmented landscape by considering three important stages driving recruitment: effective pollination, acorn production and acorn dispersal. We used a network approach to (1) determine if pollen-mediated gene exchange across the landscape was spatially structured; (2) estimate the effects of limited acorn dispersal on functional connectivity; (3) identify which landscape traits could drive source?sink dynamics of gene flow.Although long distance dispersal was relatively frequent, most effective pollen flow occurred over short distances (10 ha) are the main pollen sources, while small ones (