Fragmentation increased in over half of global forests from 2000 to 2020
Yibiao Zou, Thomas W. Crowther, Gabriel Reuben Smith, Haozhi Ma, Lidong Mo, Lalasia Bialic‐Murphy, Peter Potapov, Klementyna A. Gawecka, Chi Xu, Pablo José Negret, T. Bruce Lauber, Zhaofei Wu, Dominic Rebindaine, Constantin M. Zohner
Abstract
Habitat fragmentation, in which contiguous forests are broken into smaller, isolated patches, threatens biodiversity by disrupting species movement, shrinking populations, and altering ecosystem dynamics. Past assessments suggested declining global fragmentation, but they relied on structure-based metrics that overlook ecological connectivity. We analyzed global forest fragmentation from 2000 to 2020 using complementary metrics that captured patch connectivity, aggregation, and structure. Connectivity-based metrics revealed that 51 to 67% of forests globally-and 58 to 80% of tropical forests-became more fragmented, which is nearly twice the rate suggested by traditional structure-focused methods (30 to 35%). Aggregation-focused metrics confirmed increases in 57 to 83% of forests. Human activities such as agriculture and logging drive this change. Yet protected tropical areas saw up to an 82% reduction in fragmentation, underscoring the potential of targeted conservation.