With population growth and increased prosperity driving urban and agricultural expansion in the 21st century, the conversion of natural habitat to human-dominated land-uses is expected to accelerate.
However natural habitat is rarely fully eradicated from a landscape. Fragmented remnants are left behind, embedded in a sea of agricultural and urban land. Although extensive ecological research has demonstrated that habitat fragmentation decreases ecological diversity and functioning, habitat fragments are often the last harbors of biodiversity and ecosystem services in a landscape. Viewed in this light, they represent potential foci for the restoration of the natural landscape.
The research of the Fagan lab focuses on how we can best conserve and reconnect isolated habitat fragments. To do this, we try to understand the process of fragmentation and habitat loss from several different perspectives: ecological, geographical, and socioeconomic.
However natural habitat is rarely fully eradicated from a landscape. Fragmented remnants are left behind, embedded in a sea of agricultural and urban land. Although extensive ecological research has demonstrated that habitat fragmentation decreases ecological diversity and functioning, habitat fragments are often the last harbors of biodiversity and ecosystem services in a landscape. Viewed in this light, they represent potential foci for the restoration of the natural landscape.
The research of the Fagan lab focuses on how we can best conserve and reconnect isolated habitat fragments. To do this, we try to understand the process of fragmentation and habitat loss from several different perspectives: ecological, geographical, and socioeconomic.
