Habitat fragmentation is a landscape-level phenomenon in which a once-continuous habitat is broken into smaller, spatially isolated patches separated by a matrix of modified or unsuitable land cover. It encompasses reductions in patch size, increased edge-to-interior ratios, and isolation effects that alter species movement, gene flow, metapopulation dynamics, and community composition. Fragmentation modifies abiotic conditions (e.g., microclimate, hydrology), disrupts ecological interactions such as pollination and predation, and can increase extinction risk, invasion susceptibility, and biotic homogenization. It is typically quantified using metrics of patch configuration, connectivity, and edge density in landscape ecology and conservation biology.
It's not what they intended to do or expected to find. They're not even all that interested in birds. When Andre Naranjo and his colleagues began work on a new study published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, ...
Evolution
Feb 5, 2026
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61
A comprehensive new review paper reveals the staggering loss of biodiversity among island land snails globally. Lead author Robert Cowie of the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 30, 2026
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104
Stretching along the Brazilian coastline, the Atlantic Forest is home to hundreds of species of birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and fishes. However, due to human expansion, only about a third of the forest's original ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 15, 2026
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104
Being close to a natural habitat such as a forest doesn't necessarily make farmland more attractive to pollinators, a new study shows.
Ecology
Dec 4, 2025
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15
A new study of 1960s maps, many of which were created by young people, has provided important fresh evidence of the timing and extent of habitat losses caused by agricultural intensification and urban growth in England and ...
Ecology
Nov 19, 2025
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Efforts to join up isolated plant and animal habitats across the world should also protect against unintentionally harming them, new research shows.
Ecology
Nov 13, 2025
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27
Insectivorous birds found in the understory of the Eastern Himalayas are under threat due to habitat degradation, a new study from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has found.
Plants & Animals
Nov 12, 2025
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17
Planting trees is not enough. Although forest restoration efforts in the Atlantic Forest are advancing on a large scale, they are still unable to fully integrate replanted areas into the mosaic of native fragments. This is ...
Ecology
Nov 6, 2025
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14
University of Queensland researchers have completed the first comprehensive studies of recent fire history and koala populations across Australia's 9,300 islands.
Ecology
Nov 5, 2025
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13
Fears of a nationwide collapse in Britain's insect populations may be overstated, according to a major new study recently published in the journal Nature Communications. Instead, researchers have found a more complex picture: ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 22, 2025
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