The disproportionately high value of small patches for biodiversity conservation

• Published in: Conservation letters Vol. 15; no. 3
• Main Authors: Riva, Federico, Fahrig, Lenore
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.05.2022; Wiley
• Subjects: 2050 Vision for Biodiversity; Anthropocene; Anthropocene epoch; Biodiversity; biodiversity conservation; Biodiversity loss; Conservation; data collection; Datasets; declining species; ecological offsetting; ecosystem restoration; Endangered & extinct species; Extinction; extinction debt; habitat fragmentation; habitats; issues and policy; IUCN Red List; Post‐2020 Biodiversity targets; protected areas; risk; SLOSS; Species; Species extinction; Wildlife conservation

Small habitat patches have been historically neglected in conservation, primarily because extinction risk is higher in small patches. Nevertheless, sets of small patches usually harbor more species than one or a few larger patches of equal total area. Resolving this inconsistency is key to policy an...