NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Habitat fragmentation is defined as the process during which a large expanse of habitat is transformed into a number of smaller patches of smaller total area isolated from each other by a matrix of habitats unlike the original (Fahrig, 2003).

Detailed explanation-2: -The separation of an ecosystem into small pieces of land is called habitat fragmentation.

Detailed explanation-3: -Fragmentation happens when parts of a habitat are destroyed, leaving behind smaller unconnected areas. This can occur naturally, as a result of fire or volcanic eruptions, but is normally due to human activity. A simple example is the construction of a road through a woodland.

Detailed explanation-4: -Habitat loss generally refers to the decrease in the spatial extent of natural habitat, including forest, grassland, desert, and wetlands [1, 2], whereas habitat fragmentation per se is the breaking apart of habitat after controlling for habitat loss [3].

Detailed explanation-5: -First, habitat fragmentation causes the non-random loss of species that make major contributions to ecosystem functioning (decreasing sampling effect), and reduces mutualistic interactions (decreasing complementarity effects) regardless of the changes in species richness.