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Published on: March 13, 2014
Habitat fragmentation can either increase or decrease with habitat loss
Amanda E Martin1,2, Carmen Galán-Acedo2, Federico Riva3
1Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, ON Canada.
Landscape Ecology
|May 25, 2026
Summary
Forest loss does not always increase habitat fragmentation. In a global study, forests became less fragmented after loss 44% of the time, highlighting the need to study fragmentation effects separately from habitat amount.
Area of Science:
- Conservation Biology
- Landscape Ecology
- Global Ecology
Background:
- Habitat loss and fragmentation are key drivers of biodiversity loss.
- The debate exists whether to study habitat loss and fragmentation effects separately or combined.
- A common assumption is that habitat loss inevitably leads to fragmentation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess if forest loss consistently results in fragmentation globally.
- To analyze fragmentation changes across various spatial scales.
- To determine the frequency of increased versus decreased fragmentation following forest loss.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated 150,000 forest locations globally.
- Delineated landscapes of six sizes (0.25–10 km radii).
- Assessed fragmentation changes using four measures for landscapes with forest loss between 2000–2020.
Main Results:
- Forest loss resulted in decreased fragmentation in 44% of cases.
- Forests became more fragmented after loss in 51% of cases.
- These patterns held across multiple fragmentation measures, landscape sizes, and biomes.
Conclusions:
- Habitat loss does not inevitably lead to increased fragmentation.
- Fragmentation effects (fragmentation per se) differ from habitat amount effects.
- Studying fragmentation per se is crucial for effective conservation planning and addressing biodiversity loss.
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