DISPERSAL CAPABILITY OF THE CALIFORNIA GNATCATCHER: A LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTION DATA

Abstract

Dispersal is the means by which genetic and demographic exchange between subpopulations maintains the viability of the regional metapopulation (Fahrig and Merriam 1985; Lacy 1987; Merriam 1991). Our paper describes potential limitations of existing data on dispersal of juvenile California Gnatcatchers (Polioptila californica) and provides a landscape analysis of distribution data from areas of fragmented habitat