Habitats that have become fragmented, that is divided into smaller pieces of land, have an increased edge area, hence exposing the reduced core area to greater human disturbance and other influences arising from any living component, on the biodiversity remaining in the affected core area. Wild populations whose habitat has become fragmented are known to be more vulnerable to extinction. This is especially so when the areas they occupy become too small to buffer the negative impacts of anthropogenic activities as a result of 'edge effects'. This refers to the situation where a natural habitat becomes less suitable for sustaining native species over the short and long term since it is adjacent to developed or disturbed land. This leads to increased exposure to impacts resulting from human activities, as well as from predation and competition with non-native species.

For instance, in fragmented rural areas, the Algerian Hedgehog (Scientific name: Atelerix algirus, Maltese name: Qanfud) is more likely to succumb to predators or road vehicles driving in country roads. The hedgehog, when faced with danger, such as a cat or the strong lights emitted by cars, assumes a defensive posture by rolling up into a ball, so as to protect the delicate parts of its body that are not actually covered by spines. Nevertheless, although the spines of hedgehogs are effective against predators, the defensive posture does not help much to deflect cars that are about to run over a hedgehog in the middle of a country road, and hence hedgehogs are often killed by motor vehicles.

 

 

Other sections related to habitats
Habitats
Terrestrial Habitats
Marine Habitats
Threats to Habitats 

Links for further information
State of the Environment Reports / Indicators 

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