While much is being discussed on the importance of connectivity of fragmented wildlife habitats and forest corridors as essential conservation strategies of endangered species, a new finding indicates that mate choice by females is important in determining how animals eventually disperse and integrate with new populations.
The study called “Mate choice interacts with movement limitations to influence effective dispersal”, says acceptability of immigrant individuals (dispersers) to potential mates especially by females is important for reproduction success and increasing the number of endangered species. The research has been conducted by wildlife biologists by Dr. Divya Vasudev, from the Wildlife Conservation Society, India Program, Bangalore, and Robert Fletcher from the University of Florida.
A number of endangered species exist in fragmented populations and connectivity between them is crucial for long-term conservation. This is brought about by animals dispersing between populations. However, the former also need to settle and reproduce in the new population where they have entered.
Hence, whether an immigrant is successful or not in terms of its reproduction in the new population is also important to establish connectivity emphasizes the study. In this situation, whether females choose to reproduce with an immigrant or not, can impact the success of these new individuals amidst their new populations. This according to the study can hence determine the connectivity between populations.
The study further underlines possible factors that can determine the “acceptability” of mates for females. It notes that traversing across large landscapes can make dispersers appear unattractive as potential mates.