DOI: 10.5061/dryad.kprr4xhh6
title: Data from: Isolating the role of the matrix at patch and landscape scales

description: Global increases in habitat loss and fragmentation have resulted in
 non-habitat land cover, or the matrix, becoming an increasingly prominent
 feature of landscapes. The matrix can influence the population dynamics of
 species in fragments by modifying processes operating locally on
 individual patches (e.g., edge effects on survival) or at landscape scales
 (e.g., inter-patch dispersal). However, the relative magnitude of patch-
 vs. landscape-scale matrix effects on the populations found in patches
 remains unclear. We established 12 experimental landscapes in which we
 controlled for habitat amount and fragmentation while manipulating the
 quality of the matrix around (i) individual habitat patches and (ii)
 across the entire landscape in a factorial design. We then compared the
 magnitude of local- and landscape-scale matrix effects on a specialist
 herbivore, Chelinidea vittiger (Hemiptera: Coreidae). Population size in
 fragments was influenced by both patch- and landscape-scale treatments:
 population size increased in patches surrounded by high-quality matrix,
 but only in landscapes dominated by low-quality matrix, due in part to
 decreased inter-patch movements in these landscapes. In contrast, the
 effects on both survival and reproductive output were solely at the
 patch-scale, with both lower in patches surrounded by low-quality matrix.
 Our results underscore the outsized importance of matrix habitat
 immediately adjacent to fragment edges -- even though patch-scale
 manipulations affected only a fraction (3%) of the area that
 landscape-scale manipulations did, patch-scale effects were more common.
 The relationship between dispersal, population size, and scale-dependent
 effects of matrix quality emphasizes the need to explicitly consider the
 spatial scale at which different processes operate when predicting
 responses to habitat fragmentation. Our results also suggest that the
 matrix immediately adjacent to habitat remnants is of particular
 importance when considering alternative strategies for landscape
 conservation or restoration.
description: # Isolating the role of the matrix at patch and landscape scales Dataset
 DOI: [10.5061/dryad.kprr4xhh6](10.5061/dryad.kprr4xhh6) ## Description of
 the data and file structure Data is from experimental landscapes set up to
 test the scale of matrix effects across fragmented landscapes. Forty
 patches of Opuntia cactus were experimentally planted in 50 by 50-meter
 landscapes. A total of twelve landscapes were constructed with each in a
 spatially blocked pair. The matrix vegetation was mechanically reduced at
 two scales: either a 1m directly surrounding a patch or the remaining
 landscape 1m away from all patches. Cactus bugs (Chelinidea vittiger) were
 released in these landscapes and then followed for 3 years across 11
 sampling periods. Data set 1 corresponds to population surveys of adult
 and nymphs for C. vittiger, and data set 2 is the mark recapture histories
 for all adults in the experiment. ### Files and variables #### File:
 MatrixScale\_PopulationSurveys.csv **Description:** Abundance data at the
 patch scale for both adults and nymphs of Chelinidea vittiger in the
 experiment across 11 surveys. ##### Variables * Plot_Number: This is the
 landscape ID for the twelve experimental landscapes in the experiment *
 Pair: This is the "block" term for the spatial pairs for each
 landscape * PatchID: This is the individual patch ID for each of the 40
 patches contained in each landscapes. * Adults: Count of adults observed
 on individual patches for a given survey. * Nymphs: Count of nymphs
 observed on individual patches for a given survey * Period: Ordered rank
 survey number indicating which of the 11 sampling period the row
 corresponds with. * SurveyYear: Numerical year of survey, ranges from
 2019-2021 * patchtrt: Variable describing which patch scale treatment an
 individual patch received. "Y" corresponds to mechanical
 reduction of the matrix directly surrounding the patch. "N"
 corresponds to control patch matrix. * landscapetrt: Variable describing
 which landscape scale treatment the landscape a patch is in received. 
 "Y" corresponds to mechanical reduction of the matrix across the
 landscape. "N" corresponds to control landscape matrix. ####
 File: MatrixScale\_DetectionHistory.csv **Description:** The multi-state
 detection histories for all adult C. vittiger marked and recaptured across
 the 11 time periods sampled in the surveys. ##### Variables * BugID:
 Individual adult identification code * Plot_Number: The experimental
 landscape the individual was in through the course of the experiment. *
 landscapetrt: The experimental treatment a particular landscape received.
 "Y" corresponds to mechanical reduction of the matrix across the
 landscape. "N" corresponds to control landscape matrix. * 1:
 Initial sampling period: "0" indicates no detected.
 "A" corresponds to a detection at a patch with control
 patch-scale matrix. "B" is a detection at a patch with
 mechanically reduced patch-scale matrix.  * 2: Second sampling period:
 "0", "A", "B" are the same as previous.
 "C" indicates a recapture of an individual that has moved
 patches and now resides on a patch with patch-scale control matrix.
 "D" indicates a recapture of an individual that has has moved
 patches. * 3: Third sampling period: "0", "A",
 "B", "C","D" are the same states described
 previously. * 4: Forth sampling period: "0", "A",
 "B", "C","D" are the same states described
 previously. * 5:Five sampling period: "0", "A",
 "B", "C","D" are the same states described
 previously. * 6: Sixth sampling period: "0", "A",
 "B", "C","D" are the same states described
 previously. * 7: Seventh sampling period: "0", "A",
 "B", "C","D" are the same states described
 previously. * 8: Eighth  sampling period: "0", "A",
 "B", "C","D" are the same states described
 previously. * 9: Nineth sampling period: "0", "A",
 "B", "C","D" are the same states described
 previously. * 10:Tenth sampling period: "0", "A",
 "B", "C","D" are the same states described
 previously. * 11:Eleventh sampling period: "0", "A",
 "B", "C","D" are the same states described
 previously. * ch: Compressed detection (capture) history in a single
 string with no spaces from the preceding variables.