{"title":"Fragmentation impacts may be mixed for conservation but generally bad for restoration","authors":"Kevin Watts, Samuel Hughes","doi":"10.1111/rec.14260","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The influence of fragmentation per se on biodiversity is hotly debated, with evidence of negative, neutral, or even positive effects after controlling for habitat amount. Principles from this debate are often used to inform biodiversity conservation in remnant habitat fragments but are rarely considered in a restoration context. Habitat restoration is essential to work alongside conservation and reverse biodiversity declines. Although restored habitats vary along a similar fragmentation gradient to remnant patches, the importance of different processes likely varies. Communities in remnant patches are largely determined by existing populations, while communities in restored patches are shaped by colonization from nearby populations. We illustrate how fragmentation per se can have variable outcomes for biodiversity depending on whether habitat is conserved or restored. The fragmentation debate, in its current form, has limited application for restoration ecology, and we emphasize the need for ecologists and conservationists to consider the directionality of the fragmentation process.","PeriodicalId":54487,"journal":{"name":"Restoration Ecology","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Restoration Ecology","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14260","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The influence of fragmentation per se on biodiversity is hotly debated, with evidence of negative, neutral, or even positive effects after controlling for habitat amount. Principles from this debate are often used to inform biodiversity conservation in remnant habitat fragments but are rarely considered in a restoration context. Habitat restoration is essential to work alongside conservation and reverse biodiversity declines. Although restored habitats vary along a similar fragmentation gradient to remnant patches, the importance of different processes likely varies. Communities in remnant patches are largely determined by existing populations, while communities in restored patches are shaped by colonization from nearby populations. We illustrate how fragmentation per se can have variable outcomes for biodiversity depending on whether habitat is conserved or restored. The fragmentation debate, in its current form, has limited application for restoration ecology, and we emphasize the need for ecologists and conservationists to consider the directionality of the fragmentation process.
期刊介绍:
Restoration Ecology fosters the exchange of ideas among the many disciplines involved with ecological restoration. Addressing global concerns and communicating them to the international research community and restoration practitioners, the journal is at the forefront of a vital new direction in science, ecology, and policy. Original papers describe experimental, observational, and theoretical studies on terrestrial, marine, and freshwater systems, and are considered without taxonomic bias. Contributions span the natural sciences, including ecological and biological aspects, as well as the restoration of soil, air and water when set in an ecological context; and the social sciences, including cultural, philosophical, political, educational, economic and historical aspects. Edited by a distinguished panel, the journal continues to be a major conduit for researchers to publish their findings in the fight to not only halt ecological damage, but also to ultimately reverse it.