nutrients for habitat renewal, and connecting them by corridors in different topological arrangements, generating a spatial mosaic of patches of opportunity distributed in time. This can be used for landscape experiments by studying the bacteria metapopulations on the chip, for example their evolutionary ecology. Life history evolution Metapopulation models have been used to explain life-history evolution, such as the ecological stability of amphibian metamorphosis in small vernal ponds. Alternative ecological strategies have evolved. For example, some salamanders forgo metamorphosis and sexually mature as aquatic neotenes. The seasonal duration of wetlands and the migratory range of the species determines which ponds are connected and if they form a metapopulation. The duration of the life history stages of amphibians relative to the duration of the vernal pool before it dries up regulates the ecological development of metapopulations connecting aquatic patches to terrestrial patches. See also Competition (biology) Conservation biology Landscape ecology Lotka–Volterra equations Oscillation Population viability analysis Predation Spatial heterogeneity References Hanski, I. Metapopulation Ecology Oxford University Press. 1999. Fahrig, L. 2003. Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Biodiversity. Annual Review of ecology, evolution, and systematics. 34:1, p. 487. External links Helsinki-science: Metapopulation Population ecology Landscape ecology Population