PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 31: Reserve Design and Planning.
Presiding: J Franklin
Tuesday, August 5. 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, SITCC Meeting Room 105.

Effects of landscape corridors on plant species richness.

Damschen, Ellen^*,1, Haddad, Nick¹, ¹ North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

ABSTRACT- Habitat degradation and loss are the most important factors causing the extinction of species. Corridors, linear strips of habitat connecting two otherwise isolated patches, have often been implemented to minimize the negative effects of habitat fragmentation. To date, corridor effects have been frequently documented in animal populations, while the effects on plants and communities have remained largely unexplored. At the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, we assessed plant species richness in a replicated landscape-level experimental system that controls for patch size and shape while testing for effects of corridors. These sites were created in the winter of 1999-2000. The presence or absence of all plant species within our experimental landscape was recorded in June of 2001 and 2002. According to metapopulation theory, we predicted that connected patches would have higher species richness than unconnected patches. In 2001, there was no difference in species richness between connected and unconnected patches (p=0.29). However, results from 2002 indicate that there is a trend toward higher species richness in connected patches (p=0.06). These findings indicate habitat connectivity may influence species interactions and successional processes.

Key words: plant communities, corridors, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity