Translate 
Abstract
When habitats are lost, species are lost in the region as a result of the sampling process. However, it is less clear what happens to biodiversity in the habitats that remain. Some have argued that the main influence of habitat loss on biodiversity is simply due to the total amount of habitat being reduced, while others have argued that fragmentation leads to fewer species per site because of altered spatial connectance among extant habitats. Here, we use a unique data set on invertebrate species in ponds spanning six decades of habitat loss to show that both regional and local species richness declined, indicating that species loss is compounded by habitat loss via connectivity loss, and not a result of a sampling process or changes in local environmental conditions. Overall, our work provides some of the clearest evidence to date from a longitudinal study that habitat loss translates into species loss, even within the remaining habitats.
Highlights
Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the most important causes of decline in global biodiversity (Wilson 1988; Hanski 2005; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005; Maxwell et al 2016)
There is a question as to whether habitat loss leads to species loss due to the process of sampling, or whether there are ecological processes occurring within the remaining habitats that lead to further biodiversity loss, for example, due to effects of habitat fragmentation and spatial connectance loss among remaining habitat patches (Fahrig 2013, 2017; Haddad et al 2015; Hanski 2015)
We explicitly evaluated whether the effect of habitat loss was due to a loss in total habitat alone, or whether there was an influence of increasing habitat fragmentation
Summary
Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the most important causes of decline in global biodiversity (Wilson 1988; Hanski 2005; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005; Maxwell et al 2016). There is a question as to whether habitat loss leads to species loss due to the process of sampling (e.g. the species–area relationship), or whether there are ecological processes occurring within the remaining habitats that lead to further biodiversity loss, for example, due to effects of habitat fragmentation and spatial connectance loss among remaining habitat patches (Fahrig 2013, 2017; Haddad et al 2015; Hanski 2015). It is axiomatic that habitat loss will lead to species loss at large spatial scales, as a result of the ubiquitous species–area relationship and its inverse, the endemics–area relationship (Kinzig & Harte 2000; Rosenzweig 2003; He & Hubbell 2011) It is less clear, what happens to the numbers of species in a given locality (i.e. alpha-diversity) following the loss of surrounding habitats. If habitat fragmentation (i.e. patch size and isolation) plays a strong role, the numbers of species in a given locality that is small and/or isolated will be lower than in a patch of the same size that is embedded within a more continuous network of habitats (Rybicki & Hanski 2013; Haddad et al 2017)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
