metapopulation
met-ah-pop-yoo-LAY-shun
ˌmɛtəˌpɒpjʊˈleɪʃənListen
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Dictionary meaning
a spatially structured set of local populations of the same species occupying discrete habitat patches and connected by occasional migration; local populations within a metapopulation may go extinct but patches can be recolonised from neighbouring populations, so the metapopulation persists even as individual local populations turn over in a dynamic rescue-extinction balance; the concept, developed by Richard Levins and later by Ilkka Hanski, is central to conservation planning for fragmented landscapes and informs corridor design and reintroduction strategies