Double damage to biodiversity

Zsofia Horvath (aquascale lab, WasserCluster Lunz) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) have established that the destruction of habitat causes double damage to biodiversity. If habitat patches disappear, not only do the species living there become extinct, but species richness in neighbouring patches also declines. The reason for this additional species loss is the large physical distances between the remaining habitat patches, the researchers write in the journal Ecology Letters.