Ecology

Disturbance (geology)

Habitat destruction

Extinction (optical mineralogy)

Population

Extinction debt

Biology

Geography

Demography

Habitat fragmentation

Habitat

Sociology

Paleontology

Fragmentation (computing)

Local extinction

Biological dispersal

Science

Vulnerability to habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation caused by human activities has consequences for the distribution and movement of organisms. Betts et al. present a global analysis of how exposure to habitat fragmentation affects the composition of ecological communities (see the Perspective by Hargreaves). In a dataset consisting of 4489 animal species, regions that historically experienced little disturbance tended to harbor a higher proportion of species vulnerable to fragmentation. Species in more frequently disturbed regions were more resilient. High-latitude areas historically experienced more disturbance and harbor more resilient species, which suggests that extinction has removed fragmentation-sensitive species. Thus, conservation efforts to limit fragmentation are particularly important in the tropics. Science , this issue p. 1236 ; see also p. 1196

Extinction filters mediate the global effects of habitat fragmentation on animals