Data from: Why adding habitat can destabilize species coexistence - consequences to restoration

In the context of the looming biodiversity crisis, adding patches of
habitat has been proposed as a restoration strategy in several ecosystems.
However, these interventions rarely mimic the conditions of the natural
habitats precisely. Consequently, not all species equally benefit from the
restored habitat, fostering a difference in species fitness. Using a
metapopulation model with a competition-colonization trade-off, we explore
how the introduction of habitat patches where the competition ability of
the superior competitor is either enhanced or diminished affects species
coexistence. We show that adding habitat changes the coexistence regime at
the regional scale, potentially leading to undesired consequences. Our
results suggest that inferior competitors with colonization rates close to
the lower bound that enables coexistence are particularly vulnerable to
this kind of intervention. The impact on the coexistence regime is also
dependent on the amount of habitat restored as well as the extent to which
the new habitat distorts the competitive capacity of the superior
competitor. Our results highlight the double-edged sword effect of
suboptimal restoration, revealing potential unintended consequences that
could exacerbate biodiversity loss. On the other hand, restoration
favoring endangered species is also identified as a conservation tool. The
present study advances in the mechanistic comprehension of habitat
restoration, a necessary endeavor in the face of the challenges posed by
global change.