Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Characterizing connectivity relationships in freshwaters using patch-based graphs

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Landscape Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Spatial graphs in landscape ecology and conservation have emerged recently as a powerful methodology to model patterns in the topology and connectivity of habitat patches (structural connectivity) and the movement of genes, individuals or populations among these patches (potential functional connectivity). Most spatial graph’s applications to date have been in the terrestrial realm, whereas the use of spatially explicit graph-based methods in the freshwater sciences has lagged far behind. Although at first patch-based spatial graphs were not considered suitable for representing the branching network of riverine landscapes, here we argue that the application of graphs can be a useful tool for quantifying habitat connectivity of freshwater ecosystems. In this review we provide an overview of the potential of patch-based spatial graphs in freshwater ecology and conservation, and present a conceptual framework for the topological analysis of stream networks (i.e., riverscape graphs) from a hierarchical patch-based context. By highlighting the potential application of graph theory in freshwater sciences we hope to illustrate the generality of spatial network analyses in landscape ecology and conservation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aldous JM, Wilson RJ (2000) Graph and application. An introductory approach. Springer-Verlag, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexandre CM, Almeida PR (2010) The impact of small physical obstacles on the structure of freshwater fish assemblages. River Res Appl 26:977–994

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersson E, Bodin Ö (2009) Practical tool for landscape planning? An empirical investigation of network based models of habitat fragmentation. Ecography 32:123–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auerbach DA, Poff NL (2011) Spatiotemporal controls of simulated metacommunity dynamics in dendritic networks. J N Am Benthol Soc 30:235–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baranyi G, Saura S, Podani J, Jordán F (2011) Contribution of habitat patches to network connectivity: redundancy and uniqueness of topological indices. Ecol Indic 11:1301–1310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrat A, Barthelemey M, Pastor-Satorras R, Vespignani A (2004) The architecture of complex weighted networks. PNAS 101(11):3747–3752

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bascompte J, Jordano P, Oleson JM (2006) Asymmetric coevolutionary networks facilitate biodiversity maintenance. Science 312:431–433

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Benda L, Poff NL, Miller D, Dunne T, Reeves G, Pess G, Pollock M (2004) The network dynamics hypothesis: how channel networks structure riverine habitats. Bioscience 54:413–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bodin Ö (2009) Ecological topology and networks. In: Meyers R (ed) Encyclopedia of complexity and system science. Springer, New York, pp 2728–2744

    Google Scholar 

  • Bodin Ö, Saura S (2010) Ranking individual habitat patches as connectivity providers: integrating network analysis and patch removal experiments. Ecol Model 221:2393–2404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calabrese JM, Fagan WF (2004) A comparison-shopper’s guide to connectivity metrics. Front Ecol Environ 2:529–536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cote D, Kehler DG, Bourne C, Wiersma YF (2009) A new measure of longitudinal connectivity for stream networks. Landscape Ecol 24:101–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowley DE, Wissmar RC, Sallenave R (2007) Fish assemblages and seasonal movements of fish in irrigation canals and river reaches of the middle Rio Grande, New Mexico (USA). Ecol Freshw Fish 16:548–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cui B, Wang C, Tao W, You Z (2009) River channel network design for drought and flood control: a case study of Xiaoqinghe River basin, Jinan City, China. J Environ Manag 90:3675–3686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cumming GS, Bodin Ö, Ernstson H, Elmqvist T (2010) Network analysis in conservation biogeography: challenges and opportunities. Divers Distrib 16:414–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dale MRT, Fortin M-J (2010) From graphs to spatial graphs. Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 41:21–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drake D, Andrew R, Mandrak NE (2010) Least-cost transportation networks predict spatial interaction of invasion vectors. Ecol Appl 20:2286–2299

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn AG, Majer JD (2007) In response to the continuum model for fauna research: a hierarchical, patch-based model of spatial landscape patterns. Oikos 116:1413–1418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erős T, Grossman GD (2005) Fish biodiversity in two Hungarian streams—a landscape based approach. Arch Hydrobiol 162:53–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erős T, Schmera D, Schick RS (2011) Network thinking in riverscape conservation—a graph-based approach. Biol Conserv 144:184–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fagan WF (2002) Connectivity, fragmentation, and extinction risk in dendritic metapopulations. Ecology 83:3243–3249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fall A, Fortin M-J, Manseau M, O’Brien D (2007) Spatial graphs: principles and applications for habitat connectivity. Ecosystems 10:448–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fausch KD, Torgersen CE, Baxter CV, Li HW (2002) Landscapes to riverscapes: bridging the gap between research and conservation of stream fishes. Bioscience 52:483–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman RTT (1995) Land mosaics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Fortuna MA, Gomez-Rodriguez C, Bascompte J (2006) Spatial network structure and amphibian persistence in stochastic environments. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 273:1429–1434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frissell CA, Liss WJ, Warren CE, Hurley MD (1986) A hierarchical framework for stream habitat classification: viewing streams in a watershed context. Environ Manag 10:199–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fullerton AH, Burnett KM, Steel EA, Flitcroft RL, Press GR, Feist BE, Torgersen CE, Miller DJ, Sanderson BL (2010) Hydrological connectivity for riverine fish: measurement challenges and opportunities. Freshw Biol 55:2215–2237

    Google Scholar 

  • Fullerton AH, Lindley ST, Pess GR, Feist BE, Steel EA, McElhany P (2011) Human influence on the spatial structure of threatened pacific salmon metapopulations. Conserv Biol. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01718.x

  • Galpern P, Manseau M, Fall A (2011) Patch-based graphs of landscape connectivity: a guide to construction, analysis and application for conservation. Biol Conserv 144:44–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garroway CJ, Bowman J, Carr D, Wilson PJ (2008) Applications of graph theory to landscape genetics. Evol Appl 1:620–630

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant EHC, Lowe WH, Fagan WF (2007) Living in the branches: population dynamics and ecological processes in dendritic networks. Ecol Lett 10:165–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harary F (1969) Graph theory. Addison-Wesley, Reading

    Google Scholar 

  • Ings TC, Montoya JM, Bascompte J, Blüthgen N, Brown L, Dormann CF, Edwards F, Figueroa D, Jacob U, Jones JI, Lauridsen RB, Ledger ME, Lewis HM, Olesen JM, Frank van Veen FJ, Warren PH, Woodward G (2009) Ecological networks—beyond food webs. J Anim Ecol 78:253–269

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobi MN, Jonsson PR (2011) Optimal networks of nature reserves can be found through eigenvalue perturbation theory of the connectivity matrix. Ecol Appl 21:1861–1870

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones NE (2010) Incorporating lakes within the river discontinuum: longitudinal changes in ecological characteristics in stream-lake networks. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 67:1350–1362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordán F, Scheuring I (2004) Network ecology: topological constraints on ecosystem dynamics. Phys Life Rev 1:139–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordán F, Báldi A, Orci K-M, Rácz I, Varga Z (2003) Characterizing the importance of habitat patches and corridors in maintaining the landscape connectivity of a Pholidoptera transsylvanica (Orthoptera) metapopulation. Landscape Ecol 18:83–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordán F, Liu W, Davis A (2006) Topological keystone species: measures of positional importance in food webs. Oikos 112:535–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jungwirth M, Muhar S, Schmutz S (2002) Re-establishing and assessing ecological integrity in riverine landscapes. Freshw Biol 47:867–887

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kent M (2009) Biogeography and landscape ecology: the way forward—gradients and graph theory. Prog Phys Geogr 33:424–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerby JL, Riley SPD, Kats LB, Wilson P (2005) Barriers and flow as limiting factors in the spread of an invasive crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) in southern California streams. Biol Conserv 126:402–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kininmonth S, Drechsler M, Johst K, Possingham HP (2010) Metapopulation mean life time within complex networks. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 417:139–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Labonne J, Ravigné V, Parisi B, Gaucherel C (2008) Linking dendritic network structures to population demogenetics: the downside of connectivity. Oikos 117:1479–1490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster J (1999) Small-scale movements of lotic macroinvertebrates with variations in flow. Freshw Biol 41:605–619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Pichon C, Gorges G, Boet P, Baudry J, Goreaud F, Faure T (2006) A spatially explicit resource-based approach for managing stream fishes in riverscapes. Environ Manag 37:322–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu ZJ, Weller DE (2008) A stream network model for integrated watershed modelling. Environ Model Assess 13:291–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magoulick DD, Kobza RM (2003) The role of refugia for fishes during drought: a review and synthesis. Freshw Biol 48:1186–1198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin-Smith KM (1998) Relationship between fishes and habitat in rainforest streams in Sabath, Malaysia. J Fish Biol 52:458–482

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews WJ, Marsh-Matthews E (2003) Effects of drought on fish across axes of space, time and ecological complexity. Freshw Biol 48:1232–1253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAbendroth L, Foggo A, Rundle SD, Bilton DT (2005) Unravelling nestedness and spatial pattern in pond assemblages. J Anim Ecol 74:41–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minor ES, Lookingbill TR (2010) A multiscale network analysis of protected area connectivity for mammals in the United States. Conserv Biol 24:1549–1558

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Minor ES, Urban DL (2007) Graph theory as a proxy for spatially explicit population models in conservation planning. Ecol Appl 17:1771–1782

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Minor ES, Urban DL (2008) A graph-theory framework for evaluating landscape connectivity and conservation planning. Conserv Biol 22:297–307

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olden JD, Jackson DA, Peres-Neto PR (2001) Spatial isolation and fish communities in drainage lakes. Oecologia 127:572–585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olden JD, Schooley RL, Monroe JB, Poff NL (2004a) Context-dependent perceptual ranges and their relevance to animal movements in landscapes. J Anim Ecol 73:1190–1194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olden JD, Hoffman AL, Monroe JB, Poff NL (2004b) Movement behaviour and dynamics of an aquatic insect larva in a stream landscape. Can J Zool 82:1135–1146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padgham M, Webb JA (2010) Multiple structural modifications to dendritic networks produce simple responses. Ecol Model 221:2537–2545

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paik K, Kumar P (2008) Emergence of self-similar tree network organization. Complexity 13:30–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer MA, Swan CM, Nelson K, Silver P, Alvestad R (2000) Streambed landscapes: evidence that stream macroinvertebrates respond to the type and spatial arrangement of patches. Landscape Ecol 15:563–576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pascual-Hortal L, Saura S (2006) Comparison and development of new graph-based landscape connectivity indices: towards the priorization of habitat patches and corridors for conservation. Landscape Ecol 21:959–967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pascual-Hortal L, Saura S (2008) Integrating landscape connectivity in broad scale forest planning through a new graph-based habitat availability methodology: application to capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) in Catalonia. Eur J For Res 127:23–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira M, Segurado P, Neves N (2011) Using spatial network structure in landscape management and planning: a case study with pond turtles. Landsc Urban Plan 100:67–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poole GC (2002) Fluvial landscape ecology: addressing uniqueness within the river discontinuum. Freshw Biol 47:641–660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poulter B, Goodall JL, Halpin PN (2008) Applications of network analysis for adaptive management of artificial drainage systems in landscapes vulnerable to sea level rise. J Hydrol 357:207–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prager SD, Reiners WA (2009) Historical and emerging practices in ecological topology. Ecol Complex 6:160–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Proulx SR, Promislow DEL, Philips PC (2005) Network thinking in ecology and evolution. TREE 20:345–353

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rayfield B, Fortin M-J, Fall A (2011) Connectivity for conservation. A framework to classify network measures. Ecology 92:847–858

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riberio R, Carretero MA, Sillero N, Alarcos G, Ortiz-Santaliestra M, Lizana M, Llorente GA (2011) The pond network: can structural connectivity reflect on (amphibian) biodiversity patterns? Landscape Ecol 26:673–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Iturbe I, Rinaldo A (2001) Fractal river basins, chance and self-organization. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Roni P, Hanson K, Beechie T (2008) Global review of the physical and biological effectiveness of stream habitat rehabilitation techniques. N Am J Fish Man 28:856–890

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saura S, Pascual-Hortal L (2007) A new habitat availability index to integrate connectivity in landscape conservation planning: comparison with existing indices and application to a case study. Landsc Urban Plan 83:91–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saura S, Rubio L (2010) A common currency for the different ways in which patches and links can contribute to habitat availability and connectivity in the landscape. Ecography 33:523–537

    Google Scholar 

  • Schick RS, Lindley ST (2007) Directed connectivity among fish populations in a riverine network. J Appl Ecol 44:1116–1126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlosser IJ (1991) Stream fish ecology—a landscape perspective. Bioscience 41:704–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strecker AL, Olden JD, Whittier JB, Pauker CP (2011) Defining conservation priorities for freshwater fishes according to taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity. Ecol Appl. doi:10.1890/11-0599.1

  • Taylor PD, Fahrig L, Merriam G (1993) Connectivity is a vital element of landscape structure. Oikos 68:571–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tockner K, Schiemer F (1997) Ecological aspects of the restoration strategy for a river-floodplain system on the Danube River in Austria. Glob Ecol Biogeogr Lett 6:321–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torgersen CE, Gresswell RE, Bateman DS, Burnett KM (2008) Spatial identification of tributary impacts in river networks. In: Rice SP, Roy AG, Rhoads BL (eds) River confluences, tributaries and the fluvial network. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend CR (1989) The patch dynamics concept of stream community ecology. J N Am Benthol Soc 8:36–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treml EA, Halpin PN, Urban DL, Pratson LF (2008) Modeling population connectivity by ocean currents, a graph-theoretic approach for marine conservation. Landscape Ecol 23:19–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner M (1989) Landscape ecology: the effect of pattern on process. Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 20:171–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner M (2005) Landscape ecology: what is the state of the science? Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 36:319–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urban D, Keitt T (2001) Landscape connectivity: a graph-theoretic perspective. Ecology 82:1205–1218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urban DL, Minor ES, Treml EA, Schick RS (2009) Graph models of habitat mosaics. Ecol Lett 12:260–273

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vannote RL, Minshall GW, Cummins KW, Sedell JR, Cushing CE (1980) The river continuum concept. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 37:130–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasas V, Magura T, Jordán F, Tóthmérész B (2009) Graph theory in action: evaluating planned highway tracks based on connectivity measures. Landscape Ecol 24:581–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward JV (1998) Riverine landscapes: biodiversity patterns, disturbance regimes, and aquatic conservation. Biol Conserv 83:269–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren ML (1998) Road crossings as barriers to small-stream fish movements. Trans Am Fish Soc 127:637–644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasserman S, Faust K (1994) Social network analysis: methods and applications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiens JA (1989) Spatial scaling in ecology. Funct Ecol 3:385–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiens JA (2002) Riverine landscapes: taking landscape ecology into the water. Freshw Biol 47:501–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winemiller KO, Flecker AS, Hoeinghaus DJ (2010) Patch dynamics and environmental heterogeneity in lotic ecosystems. J N Am Benthol Soc 29:84–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Zetterberg A, Mörtberg UM, Balfors B (2010) Making graph theory operational for landscape ecological assessments, planning and design. Landsc Urban Plan 95:181–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The work of TE was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of sciences and by the OTKA PD 77684 research fund. JDO acknowledges funding support from the USGS Status and Trends Program, the USGS National Gap Analysis Program and the Environmental Protection Agency Science’s To Achieve Results (STAR) Program (Grant No. 833834). MJF acknowledges funding support from NSERC Discovery grant. We are grateful to the anonymous referees for their very constructive reviews of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Balaton Limnological Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Klebelsberg K. u. 3, Tihany, 8237, Hungary

    Tibor Erős

  2. School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Julian D. Olden

  3. Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

    Robert S. Schick

  4. Section of Conservation Biology, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, St. Johanns-Vorstadt 10, 4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Dénes Schmera

  5. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G5, Canada

    Marie-Josée Fortin

Authors
  1. Tibor Erős
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Julian D. Olden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Robert S. Schick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dénes Schmera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Marie-Josée Fortin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tibor Erős.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Erős, T., Olden, J.D., Schick, R.S. et al. Characterizing connectivity relationships in freshwaters using patch-based graphs. Landscape Ecol 27, 303–317 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-011-9659-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-011-9659-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation