In metapopulations, extinction of a patch is balanced by:
Metapopulation persistence depends on a dynamic balance between local extinction and colonization. When a patch population disappears, dispersers from occupied patches can establish a new local population, a process called recolonization. If recolonization rates are sufficient relative to extinction rates, the species can persist regionally even though no particular patch is occupied continuously. In the classic Levins model, the fraction of occupied patches changes as colonization creates new occupancy and extinction removes it. Dispersal is the movement mechanism that makes recolonization po
Ref: Ecology: Concepts and Applications, Molles, 9th Ed., Ch. 9
