  One of the most salient spatio-temporal patterns in population ecology is the
synchronization of fluctuating local populations across vast spatial extent.
Synchronization of abundance has been widely observed across a range of spatial
scales in relation to rate of dispersal among discrete populations. However,
the dependence of synchrony on patterns of among-patch movement across
heterogeneous landscapes has been largely ignored. Here we consider the
duration of movement between two predator-prey communities connected by weak
dispersal, and its effect on population synchrony. More specifically, we
introduce time delayed dispersal to incorporate the finite transmission time
between discrete populations across a continuous landscape. Reducing the system
to a phase model using weakly connected network theory, it is found that the
time delay is an important factor determining the nature and stability of
phase-locked states. Our analysis predicts enhanced convergence to stable
synchronous fluctuations in general, and a decreased ability of systems to
produce in-phase synchronization dynamics in the presence of delayed dispersal.
These results introduce delayed dispersal as a tool for understanding the
importance of dispersal time across a landscape matrix in affecting
metacommunity dynamics. They further highlight the importance of landscape and
dispersal patterns for predicting the onset of synchrony between weakly-coupled
populations.
