Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes

Yan, Yongzhi; Jarvie, Scott; Zhang, Qing; Zhang, Shuangshuang; Han, Peng; Liu, Qingfu; Liu, Pengtao

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108086

Cited by 35 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…In fact, most empirical studies find more species across several small than few large patches (Fahrig, 2020), even when only species of conservation concern are considered . This implies that small patches have disproportionately high biodiversity value, on a per-area basis, as has been found in several empirical studies (Bennett & Arcese, 2013;Deane et al, 2020;Deane & He, 2018;Tulloch et al, 2016;Wintle et al, 2019;Yan et al, 2021). Note that the common pattern of higher species richness across sets of many small patches than few large patches neither invalidates nor contradicts ecosystem decay as documented in Chase et al (2020).…”

Section: E T T E Rmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…We hope that our results, along with a growing body of related evidence (Bennett & Arcese, 2013;Deane et al, 2020;Deane & He, 2018;Fahrig, 2020;Hammill & Clements, 2020;Tulloch et al, 2016;Wintle et al, 2019;Yan et al, 2021), will catalyse a transition to conservation practices that recognize the high biodiversity value of small patches. While large patches play important roles in conservation (Arroyo-Rodríguez et al, 2020;Fahrig et al, 2022;Shafer, 1995), the assumption that some patches are too small to aid in biodiversity protection has been a deadly sin of modern conservation.…”

Section: Concluding Remarks: a Paradigm Shift In Conservationmentioning

confidence: 76%

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Landscape‐scale habitat fragmentation is positively related to biodiversity, despite patch‐scale ecosystem decay

Riva

Fahrig

2022

Ecology Letters

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Positive effects of habitat patch size on biodiversity are often extrapolated to infer negative effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity at landscape scales. However, such cross‐scale extrapolations typically fail. A recent, landmark, patch‐scale analysis (Chase et al., 2020, Nature 584, 238–243) demonstrates positive patch size effects on biodiversity, that is, ‘ecosystem decay’ in small patches. Other authors have already extrapolated this result to infer negative fragmentation effects, that is, higher biodiversity in a few large than many small patches of the same cumulative habitat area. We test whether this extrapolation is valid. We find that landscape‐scale patterns are opposite to their analogous patch‐scale patterns: for sets of patches with equal total habitat area, species richness and evenness decrease with increasing mean size of the patches comprising that area, even when considering only species of conservation concern. Preserving small habitat patches will, therefore, be key to sustain biodiversity amidst ongoing environmental crises.

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Section: E T T E Rmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Concluding Remarks: a Paradigm Shift In Conservationmentioning

confidence: 76%

Landscape‐scale habitat fragmentation is positively related to biodiversity, despite patch‐scale ecosystem decay

Riva

Fahrig

2022

Ecology Letters

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“…In addition to park size, shape is also an important factor affecting biodiversity. Studies of tropical forest biodiversity have shown that the species diversity of trees, shrubs and vines is mainly affected by patch shape (Yan et al 2021). In Mexico, research has shown a negative correlation between species richness and boundary shapes (Nava-Díaz et al 2022).…”

Section: Effects Of Patch Characteristics On Species Diversity In Parksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The higher the shape index, the more complex the shape of the park. A complex park shape reduces the seed dispersal and pollinator services in green spaces, making the flow of organisms between patches more difficult (Yan et al 2021). In addition, complex shapes can alter biotic and abiotic conditions at park edges, leading to the loss of sensitive species (Omar et al 2018).…”

Section: Effects Of Patch Characteristics On Species Diversity In Parksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the drivers of woody plant diversity in urban parks in a snow climate city of China

Zhang

et al. 2022

J. For. Res.

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Urban parks are an important part of urban ecosystems and play an important role in biodiversity conservation. However, it is still unclear how park characteristics affect plant diversity which could hinder the conservation of urban biodiversity due to the ineffective design of urban parks. The diversity of woody plants in 33 parks of Changchun, China, was measured with plot measurements and linked with urban park characteristics (e.g., size and age of the park) to uncover the relationship between them. The results show that urban woody plant species were abundant, with 98 species belonging to 51 genera and 26 families in the snow climate city of Changchun. The variation in woody plant diversity was largely explained by internal patch characteristics (e.g., size, age, shape), and external factors surrounding the park (e.g., land use type and socioeconomic level) accounted for only 16.0% in our study. For internal patch characteristics, older urban parks with larger areas demonstrated a richer level of plant diversity and increased nonlinearly with increasing park area. The threshold size significantly affecting plant diversity variation was approximately 30 ha. Plant diversity had positive linear relationships with the ages of urban parks, supporting the legacy effect. In addition, woody plant diversity nonlinearly decreased with increasing park shape index, which suggested that the plant diversity could also be increased by optimizing the park shape. Regarding the external factors surrounding parks, the spatial distribution of woody plant diversity varied greatly from the urban center to the suburbs. House prices around the park had positive linear relationships with woody plant diversity in parks, supporting the luxury effect. However, building and road proportions, and green space proportion had no relationship with plant diversity in parks. This study can provide a robust reference for enriching plant diversity in urban parks, thus improving the development of urban sustainable cities.

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“…In fact, most empirical SLOSS studies nd more species across several small than few large patches (18), even when only species of conservation concern are considered (19). This implies that small patches have disproportionately high biodiversity value, on a per-area basis, as has been found in several empirical studies (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). Note that the common pattern of higher species richness across sets of many small patches than few large patches neither invalidates nor contradicts ecosystem decay as documented in Chase et al (11).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Small patches are disproportionately important for biodiversity conservation, despite ecosystem decay

Riva

Fahrig

2022

Preprint

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Positive effects of habitat patch size on biodiversity are often extrapolated to infer negative effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity at a landscape scale. However, such cross-scale extrapolations often fail, undermining the effectiveness of policies based on them. Forty-two percent of the manuscripts that cited a recent, landmark patch-scale analysis (Chase et al. 2020, Nature 584, 238–243) used it to infer negative fragmentation effects, despite the fact that Chase et al. cautioned against such extrapolation. We use the same dataset used by Chase et al. to test whether it is valid to extrapolate their observed patch-scale patterns to a landscape scale. We compare species diversity across many small vs. few large patches totaling the same area and sampling effort, while accounting for the patch-scale "ecosystem decay" observed in Chase et al. We find that landscape-scale patterns are opposite to their equivalent patch-scale patterns. For an equal total habitat area, species richness and evenness decrease with mean size of the patches comprising that habitat area, whether considering all species or only species of conservation concern. Thus, landscape-scale processes (e.g., turnover) enhance biodiversity across sets of many small patches despite ecosystem decay within each patch, and this is not due to incursion of generalist species into small patches. Our results confirm that patch-scale biodiversity patterns can rarely be extrapolated to a landscape scale. Most importantly, they highlight that conservation should recognize the value of small habitat patches as an important asset for preserving biodiversity worldwide.

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Small patches are hotspots for biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes

Cited by 35 publications

References 63 publications

Landscape‐scale habitat fragmentation is positively related to biodiversity, despite patch‐scale ecosystem decay

Landscape‐scale habitat fragmentation is positively related to biodiversity, despite patch‐scale ecosystem decay

Understanding the drivers of woody plant diversity in urban parks in a snow climate city of China

Small patches are disproportionately important for biodiversity conservation, despite ecosystem decay

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