Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation describes the process by which a large continuous habitat is divided into smaller, separated habitats. Edge effects are a large part of this occurrence.  In a habitat, the environmental conditions can greatly differ between the center and the edges, including factors such as light and temperature. The varied habitats between the edge and center of a habitat can mean a reduction the area in which a particular species can live after habitat fragmentation. Increased edge habitat due to habitat fragmentation can also affect factors contributing to loss of biodiversity such as invasive species, weather events, and contact between the species occupying the habitat and humans. Effects of increased human-species contact are often seen often in protected wildlife habitats. There is usually not any sort of fence or other marker delineating the boundary of the protected area, so animals do not consistently remain in the protected area. In areas where farmland surrounds protected habitat, animals can be killed for venturing outside the habitat as a result of farmers protecting their land.  There are many problems created by habitat fragmentation that cause a loss of biodiversity, these being just a few among them.

Sources:

Didham, Raphael K. "Ecological Consequences of Habitat Fragmentation." Citable Review in the Life Sciences. ELS, Nov. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2015. 

PLOS. "Habitat Fragmentation, Variable Edge Effects, and the Landscape-Divergence Hypothesis." PLOS ONE:. N.p., 10 Oct. 2007. Web. 22 Apr. 2015. 

Image: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/GI/Pages/WhyNeedGI.aspx

Bastiaans, Elizabeth. “Conservation Biology” BIOL Class Lecture. Willey Hall, West Bank, Minneapolis, MN. December 9, 2014. Lecture.