Habitat conversion is the number one threat to biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity due to habitat loss might be exacerbated if species are harmed by fragmentation per se—the breaking apart of natural habitat that remains (hereafter fragmentation). However, the evidence that species are harmed by habitat fragmentation is mixed. Studies at the patch scale tend to show that fragmentation reduces diversity due to negative demographic effects on species' dispersal, survival and fecundity. In contrast, studies at the landscape scale tend to show that fragmentation increases diversity. This discrepancy may be partly due to geometric effects, defined as greater species turnover between patches in more fragmented landscapes. Although these effects have been demonstrated theoretically and are expected to be stronger across larger spatial extents, it is unclear whether they are likely to occur in real-world settings with both realistic landscape patterns and communities. Here, we investigated the possibility of geometric effects using simulations combined with real-world landscape and community data.

中文翻译：

---

碎片化的几何效应可能会减轻现实世界景观中栖息地破坏后的多样性损失

栖息地转变是生物多样性面临的第一大威胁。如果物种本身受到破碎化（剩余自然栖息地的分裂（以下简称破碎化））的损害，则因栖息地丧失而导致的生物多样性丧失可能会加剧。然而，关于物种因栖息地破碎化而受到伤害的证据好坏参半。斑块规模的研究往往表明，由于人口统计对物种扩散、生存和繁殖力的负面影响，碎片化降低了多样性。相比之下，景观尺度的研究往往表明破碎化会增加多样性。这种差异可能部分是由于几何效应造成的，几何效应被定义为更破碎的景观中斑块之间更大的物种更替。尽管这些效应已在理论上得到证明，并且预计在更大的空间范围内会更强，但尚不清楚它们是否有可能发生在具有现实景观格局和社区的现实环境中。在这里，我们利用模拟结合现实世界的景观和社区数据研究了几何效应的可能性。