Habitat fragmentation-a menace of biodiversity: A review

Abstract

Hunting, emergent diseases, habitat conversion and fragmentation are main reasons of global decline of population of organisms. Habitat fragmentation is main problem in conservation biodiversity. It is the division of habitat into smaller spatially isolated patches. It disrupts the physical and biological processes of ecosystems. Habitat fragmentation is caused by fire, flood, highways, railway lines, water channels and windfall; but most important it is caused by increased and extension of human land use. It is a landscape-level process and this landscape differs in size and shape of fragments and in their spatial configuration. It is playing a central role in population decline, biodiversity loss, and alteration of community structure and ecosystem functioning in anthropogenic modified landscapes. It reduces the size and increase the spatial isolation of plant population. There should be conservation efforts to stop habitat restoration. We should set up long term goals to conserve biodiversity in fragment landscape.