When discussing the effects of habitat fragmentation, we tend to lump together the effects of reduced habitat area and the effects of breaking a reduced area into smaller pieces. In a recent analysis of perennial flowering plants, darkling beetles, and predatory ground beetles Yaacobi et al. [11] showed that decreases in diversity associated with habitat fragmentation in a Mediterranean scrub landscape are the result of area loss, not degree of fragmentation. Their results are consistent with those reported by Fahrig [2] in a survey of 17 published studies that attempt to separate the effect.
What does this mean for conservation purposes? The results seem to contradict expectations implicit in the idea that some species are area-sensitive. How do we reconcile these claims?