Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems

Nick M Haddad (1) , Lars A Brudvig (2) , Jean Clobert (3) , Kendi F Davies (4) , Andrew Gonzalez (5) , Robert D Holt (6) , Thomas E Lovejoy (7) , Joseph O Sexton (8) , Mike P Austin (9) , Cathy D Collins (10) , William M Cook (11) , Ellen I Damschen (12) , Robert M Ewers (13) , Bryan L Foster (14) , Clinton N Jenkins (15) , Andrew J King (9) , William F Laurance (16) , Douglas J Levey (17) , Chris R Margules (16, 18) , Brett A Melbourne (4) , A. O Nicholls (19, 9) , John L Orrock (12) , Dan-Xia Song (8) , John R Townshend (8)

1 NC State - North Carolina State University [Raleigh]
2 Michigan State University [East Lansing]
3 SEEM - Station d’Ecologie Expérimentale du CNRS à Moulis
4 University of Colorado [Boulder]
5 McGill University = Université McGill [Montréal, Canada]
6 UF - University of Florida [Gainesville]
7 George Mason University [Fairfax]
8 University of Maryland [Baltimore]
9 CSIRO - Land & Water National Research Flagship
10 Colby College
11 St. Cloud State University
12 University of Wisconsin-Madison
13 Imperial College London
14 University of Kansas [Kansas City]
15 Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas
16 JCU - James Cook University
17 NSF - National Science Foundation [Arlington]
18 University of Indonesia
19 Charles Sturt University [Australia]

We conducted an analysis of global forest cover to reveal that 70% of remaining forest is within 1 km of the forest’s edge, subject to the degrading effects of fragmentation. A synthesis of fragmentation experiments spanning multiple biomes and scales, five continents, and 35 years demonstrates that habitat fragmentation reduces biodiversity by 13 to 75% and impairs key ecosystem functions by decreasing biomass and altering nutrient cycles. Effects are greatest in the smallest and most isolated fragments, and they magnify with the passage of time. These findings indicate an urgent need for conservation and restoration measures to improve landscape connectivity, which will reduce extinction rates and help maintain ecosystem services.

Mots clés: habitat fragmentation; ecosystems; forest; biodiversity; landscape connectivity

Domaines: Milieux et Changements globaux; Ecosystèmes

Nick M Haddad, Lars A Brudvig, Jean Clobert, Kendi F Davies, Andrew Gonzalez, et al.. Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems. Science Advances , 2015, 1 (2), pp.e1500052. ⟨10.1126/sciadv.1500052⟩. ⟨hal-02960235⟩