Impact of dispersal on the stability of metapopulations

TL;DR

This paper examines how different dispersal behaviors influence the linear stability of single-species metapopulations, revealing that certain density-dependent dispersal patterns can either stabilize or destabilize populations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of how local dynamics and dispersal behaviors impact metapopulation stability, highlighting the stabilizing effect of negative density-dependent dispersal.

Findings

Positive density-dependent dispersal destabilizes populations.

Negative density-dependent dispersal stabilizes populations.

Dispersal stabilizes heterogeneous metapopulations with more patches and higher connectance.

Abstract

Dispersal is a key ecological process, that enables local populations to form spatially extended systems called metapopulations. In the present study, we investigate how dispersal affects the linear stability of a general single-species metapopulation model. We discuss both the influence of local within-patch dynamics and the effects of various dispersal behaviors on stability. We find that positive density-dependent dispersal and positive density-dependent settlement are destabilizing dispersal behaviors while negative density-dependent dispersal and negative density-dependent settlement are stabilizing. It is also shown that dispersal has a stabilizing impact on heterogeneous metapopulations that correlates positively with the number of patches and the connectance of metapopulation networks.