Effect of landscape connectivity on plant communities: a review of response patterns

Context Fragmentation in agricultural landscapes is considered as a major threat to biodiversity. Thus, ecological corridors are deployed at multiple scales to increase connectivity. However, there is limited consensus about their efficiency, especially for plants. Objectives We assimilated existing knowledge to assess whether and how landscape connectivity impacts plant communities. Methods We reviewed published literature across more than 20 years, providing an overview on the influence of connectivity on plant communities. Results We found that landscape connectivity has a varying and complex influence on the composition and diversity of plant communities (i.e. community taxonomic structure), due to the multiplicity of factors that modulate its effect. Our understanding of how of landscape connectivity impacts the dispersal of plants is improved by using biological traits (i.e. community functional structure). Finally, we showed that landscape connectivity promotes actual dispersal between connected communities. Conclusions This review emphasises the pertinence of trait-based and actual dispersal approaches to improve our understanding and ability to predict the effect of connectivity loss on plant communities, allowing us to identify new prospects for future research.