title: Corridors increase plant species richness at large scales.
abstract: Habitat fragmentation is one of the largest threats to biodiversity. Landscape corridors, which are hypothesized to reduce the negative consequences of fragmentation, have become common features of ecological management plans worldwide. Despite their popularity, there is little evidence documenting the effectiveness of corridors in preserving biodiversity at large scales. Using a large-scale replicated experiment, we showed that habitat patches connected by corridors retain more native plant species than do isolated patches, that this difference increases over time, and that corridors do not promote invasion by exotic species. Our results support the use of corridors in biodiversity conservation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7617, USA. damschen@nceas.ucsb.edu
authors.forename: Ellen I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Damschen
authors.forename: Nick M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Orrock
authors.forename: Joshua J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Tewksbury
authors.forename: Douglas J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Levey
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D028223:Pinus / Q000254:growth & development*; D063245:Plant Development; D012639:Seeds; D012987:Soil; D013022:South Carolina; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil