Laurance, S.G., and Laurance, W.F. (2003) Bandages for wounded landscapes: faunal corridors and their role in wildlife conservation in the Americas. In: Bradshaw, G.A., and Marquet, P.A., (eds.) How Landscapes Change: human disturbance and ecosystem fragmentation in the Americas. Ecological Studies, 162 . Springer, Berlin, Germany, pp. 313-325.

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Abstract

The loss and fragmentation of natural habitats is probably the single greatest threat to the world's biological diversity. Fragmentation has a variety of effects including the isolation of habitat remnants, a sharp increase in the amount of habitat edge and, often, a disproportionate loss of certain habitat types - such as accessible areas on fertile, well-drained soils that are most productive for agriculture (Laurance et al. 1999).

Wildlife corridors have been advocated as a strategy to lower extinction rates in fragmented landscapes since at least the 1970s (e.g., Willis 1974; Diamond 1975; Wilson and Willis 1975; Wegner and Merriam 1979). By definition, a wildlife corridor is a linear remnant that differs from the surrounding vegetation and connects patches of similar habitat that were more extensively connected in the recent past (Saunders and Hobbs 1991). It is important to emphasize that corridors are not an artificial feature of the landscape, but are intended to help maintain historical habitat connectivity (Noss 1991; Bennett 1999). By facilitating movements of individuals among habitat remnants, corridors can increase population persistence in two ways. First, the demographic and genetic contributions of immigrants can bolster small, dwindling populations in fragments, providing a buffer against local extinction (Brown and Kodric-Brown 1977). Second, if a fragment population should go extinct, immigrants may eventually recolonize the fragment and reestablish the population.

Item ID:	46763
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	978-3-540-43697-3
Keywords:	wildlife corridors, fragmentation, rainforest
Date Deposited:	31 Jan 2017 23:54
FoR Codes:	05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0501 Ecological Applications > 050104 Landscape Ecology @ 60% 06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060208 Terrestrial Ecology @ 40%
SEO Codes:	96 ENVIRONMENT > 9613 Remnant Vegetation and Protected Conservation Areas > 961308 Remnant Vegetation and Protected Conservation Areas at Regional or Larger Scales @ 100%
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