Description:    Patch geometry and habitat quality among patches are widely recognized as important factors affecting population dynamics in fragmented landscapes. Little is known, however, about the influence of within-patch habitat quality on population dynamics. In this paper, we investigate the relative importance of patch geometry and within-patch habitat quality in determining population dynamics using a spatially explicit, agent-based model. We simulate two mobile species that differ in their species traits: one resembles a habitat specialist and the other a habitat generalist. Habitat quality varies continuously within habitat patches in space (and time). The results show that spatial variation in within-patch quality, together with patch area, controls population abundance of the habitat specialist. In contrast, the population size of the generalist species depends on patch area and isolation. Temporal variation in within-patch quality is, however, less influential in driving the population resilience of both species. We conclude that specialist species are more sensitive than generalist species to within-patch variation in habitat quality. The patch area-isolation paradigm, developed in metapopulation theory, should incorporate variation in within-patch habitat quality, particularly for habitat specialists. Content Type Journal Article Category Research Article Pages 1-13 DOI 10.1007/s10980-012-9826-0 Authors Xinping Ye, Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P. O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands Andrew K. Skidmore, Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P. O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands Tiejun Wang, Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P. O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands Journal Landscape Ecology Online ISSN 1572-9761 Print ISSN 0921-2973