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The species-oriented approach focuses specifically on individual species and how they each respond to their environment and habitat changes with in it. This approach can be limited because it does only focus on individual species and does not allow for a broad view of the impacts of habitat fragmentation across species. [82]
Observations of edge effects on habitats are also important, if not integral, to the study of fragmentation effects. A slew of changes in habitat and trophic interactions have been observed to magnify as distance from habitat edge decreases, such as nest predation, decreased humidity and soil moisture, sunlight, decreased species richness and ...
This leads to a lack of a skill set for the animal to adjust and adapt to a new environment. Habitat fragmentation and loss lead to smaller habitat sizes, and ecosystem decay predicts ecological processes are changed so heavily in smaller habitats that the loss in diversity is more extreme than expected by fragmentation alone. [2]
Habitat fragmentation describes spatial discontinuities in a biological system, where ecosystems are broken up into smaller parts through land-use changes (e.g. agriculture) and natural disturbance. This both reduces the size of the population and increases the degree of isolation.
Habitat degradation, fragmentation, and pollution are aspects of habitat destruction caused by humans that do not necessarily involve over destruction of habitat, yet result in habitat collapse. Desertification , deforestation , and coral reef degradation are specific types of habitat destruction for those areas ( deserts , forests , coral reefs ).
Population fragmentation causes inbreeding depression, which leads to a decrease in genetic variability in the species involved. [4] This decreases the fitness of the population for several reasons. First, inbreeding forces competition with relatives, which decreases the evolutionary fitness of the species. [ 4 ]
Environmental factors can contribute to habitat destruction more indirectly. Geological processes, climate change, [114] introduction of invasive species, ecosystem nutrient depletion, water and noise pollution are some examples. Loss of habitat can be preceded by an initial habitat fragmentation.
Habitat fragmentation can be caused by roads. When humans start to cut down the trees for logging, secondary roads are created that will go unused after its primary use. Once abandoned, the plants of the rainforest will find it difficult to grow back in that area. [37] Forest fragmentation also opens the path for illegal hunting.