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Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems

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TLDR
An analysis of global forest cover is conducted to reveal that 70% of remaining forest is within 1 km of the forest’s edge, subject to the degrading effects of fragmentation, indicating an urgent need for conservation and restoration measures to improve landscape connectivity.
Abstract
We conducted an analysis of global forest cover to reveal that 70% of remaining forest is within 1 km of the forest’s edge, subject to the degrading effects of fragmentation. A synthesis of fragmentation experiments spanning multiple biomes and scales, five continents, and 35 year sd emonstrates that habitatfragmentation reduces biodiversity by 13 to 75% and impairs key ecosystem functions by decreasing biomass and altering nutrient cycles. Effects are greatest in the smallest and most isolated fragments, and they magnify with the passage of time. These findings indicate an urgent need for conservation and restoration measures to improve landscape connectivity, which will reduce extinction rates and help maintain ecosystem services.

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Increasing fragmentation of forest cover in Brazil's Legal Amazon from 2001 to 2017.

TL;DR: An alarming trend of increasing deforestation is identified, with especially high rates in 2016 and 2017, and the creation of forest cover fragments is faster than ever due to decreasing size and dispersion of forest loss patches.
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Substantial losses in ecoregion intactness highlight urgency of globally coordinated action

TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify nine categories of intactness of the world's terrestrial ecoregions based on changes in intactness across a 16-year period and find that highly impacted and degraded categories are predominant.
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Projecting range-wide sun bear population trends using tree cover and camera-trap bycatch data.

TL;DR: It is suggested that sun bear population declines associated with tree cover loss between 2000–2014 in mainland southeast Asia were ~9%, with declines highest in Cambodia and lowest in Myanmar.
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Cross-boundary subsidy cascades from oil palm degrade distant tropical forests.

TL;DR: Irruptions of oil palm-subsidized wild boar alter the abundance and diversity of understory trees >1 km into a primary forest reserve in Malaysia, suggesting its full ecological footprint may be larger in extent than is currently recognized.
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How do land-use legacies affect ecosystem services in United States cultural landscapes?

TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual framework for understanding when land-use legacies matter for ES supply in well-studied agricultural, urban, and exurban US landscapes is presented.
References
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Book

The Theory of Island Biogeography

TL;DR: The Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201
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High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change

TL;DR: Intensive forestry practiced within subtropical forests resulted in the highest rates of forest change globally, and boreal forest loss due largely to fire and forestry was second to that in the tropics in absolute and proportional terms.
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Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Biodiversity

TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that the term "fragmentation" should be reserved for the breaking apart of habitat, independent of habitat loss, and that fragmentation per se has much weaker effects on biodiversity that are at least as likely to be positive as negative.
Journal ArticleDOI

Solutions for a cultivated planet

TL;DR: It is shown that tremendous progress could be made by halting agricultural expansion, closing ‘yield gaps’ on underperforming lands, increasing cropping efficiency, shifting diets and reducing waste, which could double food production while greatly reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture.
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Trending Questions (1)
Is there a systematic review of the impacts of fragmentation on ecosystem functions?

Yes, the paper provides a synthesis of fragmentation experiments that demonstrate how habitat fragmentation impairs key ecosystem functions.