Disturbance and landscape characteristics interactively drive dispersal strategies in continuous and fragmented metacommunities

Abstract Habitat fragmentation, driven by human activities, disrupts habitat connectivity and alters ecological processes through geometric and demographic fragmentation effects. Dispersal plays a fundamental role in shaping the distribution, abundance, and persistence of species in modified landscapes. While previous research looked at the evolution of dispersal strategies at the species level, community-level dynamics remain underexplored. Species exhibit diverse dispersal strategies to persist in modified landscapes, yet predicting how these strategies interact at the community level requires a more integrated approach. This study employed an individual-based simulation model to explore how fragmentation and other landscape characteristics influence community-level dispersal strategies. We tested the effects of varying fragmentation levels, environmental autocorrelation, habitat amount, and disturbance levels on the emerging distribution of dispersal distances within a community in modified and continuous landscapes. We hypothesised that fragmentation and other spatial patterns would significantly shape community composition, favouring particular dispersal strategies under specific environmental conditions. The findings reveal that higher disturbance levels and greater habitat amount increased the community-weighted mean of dispersal distance, while fragmentation showed only minor variation. Additionally, low autocorrelation was associated with the highest community-weighted mean of dispersal distance. These results highlight the importance of considering community-level dynamics when predicting ecosystem responses to landscape modification. By clarifying how landscape structure and disturbance shape community-level dispersal strategies, this study advances our understanding of the mechanisms underlying species persistence and community structure in modified landscapes.