91PORN

Habitat loss and fragmentation are considered the main drivers of biodiversity decline. Landscape experiments can offer unique insights into how fragmentation impacts biodiversity and ecological processes at scales similar to management activities. Corridors are strips of habitat that connect habitat fragments. They are widely used as a conservation strategy to reduce the negative effects of fragmentation. The Savannah River Site Corridor Experiment (South Carolina, USA) is the largest corridor experiment in the world and aims to test how corridors function and influence populations and communities. The principal investigators on this project includeÌýÌý(Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University),ÌýÌý(±·³§¹ó),ÌýÌý(±«°Â-²Ñ²¹»å¾±²õ´Ç²Ô),ÌýÌý(±«°Â-²Ñ²¹»å¾±²õ´Ç²Ô),ÌýÌý(Michigan State), and Julian Resasco (University of Colorado). Past and ongoing work from the lab and the Savannah River Site Corridor Experiment includes exploring potential negative effects of corridors on facilitating invasive species, studying the dynamics of ant communities (in collaboration with Melissa Burt), and examining the evolutionary impacts of corridors (seeÌýrelevant publications below). For more information on the Savannah River Site Corridor Experiment, watch the video below or e. You can learn more about the science of corridors atÌý.Ìý

TheÌýWog Wog Habitat Fragmentation Experiment is anotherÌýof the largest and longest-running fragmentation experiments. Work at Wog Wog during Julian Resasco'sÌýpostdoc withÌýKendi Davies (University of Colorado) included how fragmentation affects species niches, the structure of arthropod food webs,Ìýand parasitism.Ìý

Relevant publications:

• Santos M,ÌýVázquez^ÌýDP, andÌýResasco J. Extinction debt of species and ecological interactions in a fragmented landscape. Proceedings B. Accepted.
• Winfrey CC,ÌýResasco J, and Fierer N (2025) . Ecology.Ìý106(4): e70072.
• Hulting KA, Brudvig LA, Damschen EI, Levey DJ,ÌýResasco J, Tewksbury JJ, and Haddad NM (2025) . Journal of Ecology113: 531–541.
• Resasco J, Burt MA, Orrock JL, Haddad NM, Shoemaker D, and Levey DJ (2023).Ìý.ÌýEcological EntomologyÌý48:Ìý263–Ìý268.
• Burt M, Resasco J, Haddad NM, and Whitehead SR (2022).Ìý.ÌýEcosphereÌýe4324.
• Resasco JÌýand Fletcher RJ Jr (2021)Ìý.ÌýLandscape Ecology.Ìý36: 1089–1099.
• Damschen EI, Brudvig LA, Burt MA, Fletcher RJ Jr., Haddad NM, Levey DJ, Orrock JL,ÌýResasco J, and Tewksbury JJ. (2019) Ongoing accumulation of plant diversity through habitat connectivity in an 18-year experiment.ÌýScienceÌý365(6460):1478-1480. DOI:Ìý.
• Resasco J,ÌýMeta-analysis on a decade of testing corridor efficacy: what new have we learned? (2019)ÌýCurrent Landscape Ecology Reports​Ìý4(3): 61-69.ÌýDOI: .
• Resasco J,ÌýBitters ME, Cunningham SA, Jones HI, McKenzie VJ, and Davies KF.Ìý(2019)ÌýExperimental habitat fragmentation disrupts nematode infections in Australian skinks.ÌýEcologyÌý100(1):Ìýe02547. DOI:Ìý
• Resasco J, Tuff KT, Cunningham SA, Melbourne BA, Hicks AL, Newsome SD, and Davies KF.Ìý(2018) Generalist predator’s niche shifts reveal ecosystem changes in an experimentally fragmented landscape.ÌýEcographyÌý41(7):1209-1219.ÌýDOI:Ìý.
• ResascoÌýJ,ÌýBruna EM, Haddad NM, Banks-Leite C, and Margules CR. (2017) The contribution of theory and experiments to conservation in fragmented landscapes.ÌýEcographyÌý(Habitat Fragmentation Special Issue)Ìý40(1): 109-118. DOI:Ìý
• Brudvig, LA, Leroux SJ, Albert CH, Bruna EM, Davies KF, Ewers RM, Levey DJ, Pardini R, andÌýJ Resasco. (2017) Evaluating conceptual models of landscape change.ÌýEcographyÌý(Habitat Fragmentation Special Issue)Ìý40(1): 74–84.ÌýDOI:Ìý.
• Haddad NM, Brudvig LA, Damschen, Evans DM, Johnson BL, Levey DJ, Orrock JL,ÌýResasco J, Sullivan LL,ÌýTewksbury JJ, Wagner SA, and AJ Weldon. (2014) AÌýreview of the potential negative ecological effects of landscape corridors.ÌýConservation BiologyÌý28:1178-1187.ÌýDOI:Ìý.
• Resasco J, Haddad NM, Shoemaker DD, Orrock JL, Brudvig LA, EI Damschen, Tewksbury JJ, and Levey DJ.Ìý(2014)ÌýLandscape corridors can increase invasion by an exotic species and reduce diversity of native species.ÌýEcologyÌý95: 2033–2039.ÌýDOI:Ìý.
• Resasco J, Levey DJ, and Damschen EI.Ìý(2012) Habitat corridors alter trophic position of fire ants.ÌýEcosphereÌý3: art. 11. DOI:Ìý

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