Which provides more shelter for species biodiversity: a large, continuous tract of forest, or a number of small forest fragments that add up to the same land area? This question has divided the scientific community for more than 50 years, and a recently published study led by a Brazilian scientist has brought the topic back to the table. “It’s a debate dating back to the 1970s when researchers were trying to define the best way to plan conservation units [protected areas] so they would protect biodiversity,” says Thiago Gonçalves-Souza, a biologist at the University of Michigan, U.S., who authored the study together with more than two dozen other researchers from eight different countries. Some scientists say a region with many small forest fragments can be just as rich or richer in species diversity than a single large tract of forest. This is because each of these fragments has unique characteristics that favor the development of the different species living there. When added together, the sum is greater than that found in a large, continuous green space. “Those who defend this thesis say that, even with the loss of species on a local scale, the increase in heterogeneity between the different fragments would increase biodiversity in that region overall,” Gonçalves-Souza says. Very few large tracts of the Atlantic Rainforest remain, making it one of Brazil’s most deforested biomes. Image courtesy of Zig Koch/Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica. However, his study supports the hypothesis that conservation of large tracts of forests is actually…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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