Multi-habitat landscapes are more diverse and stable with improved function

This study investigates how the number of habitats in a landscape affects biodiversity, network structure, community stability, and function across multiple interaction types (plant-pollinator and three plant-herbivore-parasitoid networks). Using 30 field sites in the UK, researchers found that multi-habitat landscapes supported higher species richness, interaction evenness, and more consistent robustness to species loss. A field experiment showed improved pollination success in multi-habitat landscapes, driven by complementary species interactions rather than increased pollinator abundance. Modeling revealed emergent network properties in multi-habitat landscapes that couldn't be explained by summing individual habitat networks. The findings highlight the importance of maintaining diverse connected habitats for landscape-scale ecosystem services.

Talya D. Hackett, Alix M. C. Sauve, Kate P. Maia, Daniel Montoya, Nancy Davies, Rose Archer, Simon G. Potts, Jason M. Tylianakis, Ian P. Vaughan, Jane Memmott