Queen's Biology alumni Graydon Gillies and Mike Dungey, and their supervisor Dr. Chris Eckert, published an interesting article in May in Ecology Letters.
This study tests the metapopulation hypothesis as a factor in determining the northern range limit of the coastal dune plant Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia. Researchers analyzed 3,485 plots across the species’ northern range, examining habitat suitability, colonization, and extinction rates. They found that colonization increased with nearby abundance and suitable habitat but declined toward the range limit. Extinction was more likely in plots with lower habitat quality and initial abundance but did not increase significantly near the limit. A metapopulation model incorporating these spatial patterns accurately predicted the observed decline in occupancy near the range edge, suggesting that geographic variation in colonization and extinction contributes to the species’ range limit.
