Editing Habitat fragmentation (section)

{{Short description|Discontinuities in an organism's environment causing population fragmentation}}
[[File:Grasp africa-vi.png|thumb|right|Predicted fragmentation and destruction of [[Hominidae|Great Ape]] habitat in [[Central Africa]], from the [[GLOBIO Model|GLOBIO]]<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051030100748/http://www.globio.info/region/africa/|archive-date=30 Oct 2005|url-status=dead|url=http://www.globio.info/region/africa/|website=GLOBIO|title=GLOBIO: Africa}}</ref> and GRASP projects in 2002. Areas shown in black and red delineate areas of severe and moderate habitat loss, respectively.]]
[[File:Deforestation central Europe - Rodungen Mitteleuropa.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Deforestation]] in [[Europe]]. France is the most deforested country in Europe, with only 15% of the native vegetation remaining.]]
[[File:Sugarcane Deforestation, Bolivia, 2016-06-15 by Planet Labs.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Deforestation]] in [[Bolivia]], 2016.]]
'''Habitat fragmentation''' describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred [[Environment (biophysical)|environment]] ([[Habitat (ecology)|habitat]]), causing [[population fragmentation]] and  [[ecosystem decay]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schlaepfer |first1=Daniel R. |last2=Braschler |first2=Brigitte |last3=Rusterholz |first3=Hans-Peter |last4=Baur |first4=Bruno |date=October 2018 |title=Genetic effects of anthropogenic habitat fragmentation on remnant animal and plant populations: a meta-analysis |journal=Ecosphere |language=en |volume=9 |issue=10 |doi=10.1002/ecs2.2488 |bibcode=2018Ecosp...9E2488S |issn=2150-8925|doi-access=free }}</ref> Causes of habitat fragmentation include [[geological]] processes that slowly alter the layout of the physical environment<ref name="SahneyBentonFerry2010LinksDiversityVertebrates">{{cite journal|author=Sahney|first1=S.|last2=Benton|first2=M. J.|last3=Falcon-Lang|first3=H. J.|date=1 December 2010|title=Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica|url=http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/38/12/1079|format=PDF|journal=Geology|volume=38|issue=12|pages=1079–1082|bibcode=2010Geo....38.1079S|doi=10.1130/G31182.1|url-access=subscription}}</ref> (suspected of being [[allopatric speciation|one of the major causes]] of [[speciation]]<ref name="SahneyBentonFerry2010LinksDiversityVertebrates" />), and human activity such as [[Conservation development|land conversion]], which can alter the environment much faster and causes the [[extinction]] of many species. More specifically, [[habitat]] fragmentation is a process by which large and contiguous habitats get divided into smaller, isolated patches of habitats.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fahrig|first=Lenore|date=2019|title=Habitat fragmentation: A long and tangled tale|journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography|language=en|volume=28|issue=1|pages=33–41|doi=10.1111/geb.12839|bibcode=2019GloEB..28...33F |s2cid=91260144|issn=1466-8238}}</ref><ref name="Fahrig2003" />