Chapter 2: Habitat Fragmentation - USDA

Chapter 2: Habitat FragmentationNatural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)2-1 INTRODUCTIONF ragmentation, the breaking up of large patches ofnative vegetation into smaller and increasingly isolatedpatches, is a process as old as civilization (Figure 2-1). It intensified as hunter/gatherer societies settledin permanent locations and began planting crops andherding livestock. Research suggests that the initialimpacts on biodiversity were minimal, disturbed areaswere small and regenerated when no longer croppedor grazed. But as human populations increased andtechnology became more sophisticated, the effectsof Fragmentation spread across the evidence suggests that many wildlifespecies were displaced and local continues today, driven by an explodinghuman population and growing demand to producemore food and fiber from a finite land resource. Thecontemporary rural landscape is the result of thecumulative impacts of past and present human landuse practices including urbanization, agriculture,ranching, and of a landscape reduces the area oforiginal Habitat and increases the total lineal feet ofedge, favoring species that inhabit edges at theexpense of interior species that require largecontinuous patches.

contemporary rural landscape is the result of the cumulative impacts of past and present human land use practices including urbanization, agriculture, ranching, and logging. Fragmentation of a landscape reduces the area of original habitat and increases the total lineal feet of edge, favoring species that inhabit edges at the

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