Fragmentation
Causes of fragmentation
Problems associated with fragmentation
Natural as well as human processes can cause fragmentation.
Human activities, such as land clearance, logging and
suburbanisation are largely responsible for causing much of the landscape
fragmentation that is visible in cultural landscapes today.
Other activities, such as severe degradation due to
overgrazing, can change the landscape without causing fragmentation.
Problems
associated with fragmentation
Fragmentation has been described as 'the breaking up
of large habitat units into smaller parcels of land' (Forman,
1995). Problems arise from fragmenting the landscape because many
species cannot maintain viable populations
in small habitat patches. In these cases, fragmentation can result in
the eventual extinction of some species and an overall loss of biodiversity.
Fragmentation also brings about changes in other ecosystem processes that can be detrimental in the long term for the local biodiversity.
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Saunders, Hobbs and Margules,1991 'Biological consequences of ecosystem fragmentation'. | |
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Comparing regional fragmentation
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1. Has fragmentation occurred in these two regions?
2. Identify the causes of fragmentation (if possible).
3. List the problems associated with fragmentation (if possible).
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