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Science 1 September 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5791, pp. 1284 - 1286
DOI: 10.1126/science.1130098
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Reports

Corridors Increase Plant Species Richness at Large Scales

Ellen I. Damschen,1*{dagger}{ddagger} Nick M. Haddad,1 John L. Orrock,2{dagger}{ddagger} Joshua J. Tewksbury,3 Douglas J. Levey4

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.

1 Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695–7617, USA.
2 Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA.
3 Department of Biology, Box 351800, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195–1800, USA.
4 Department of Zoology, Post Office Box 118525, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611–8525, USA.

{dagger} Present address: National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street, Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA.

{ddagger} Present address: Department of Biology, Box 1137, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: damschen{at}nceas.ucsb.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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