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Forest Fragmentation: Causes, Ecological Impacts and Implications for Landscape Management

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Landscape Ecology in Forest Management and Conservation

Abstract

In order to enable the development of appropriate landscape management plans, the causes and impacts of fragmentation should be fully understood. A new definition, incorporating the key aspects cited in landscape ecological literature since the 1980s, is proposed in order to shed light on the matter of fragmentation. By means of two case studies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Oriental Province) and in North Benin, the key role of anthropogenic activities in landscape fragmentation is evidenced; the spatial dispersion of forest vegetation is linked to population density and land use change. The potential impact of fragmentation on biodiversity is shown by an analysis of forest diversity in Ivory Coast (Tanda region), and by a study of edge effects on two rodent species in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kisangani). The chapter is concluded by an study on how planned corridors, assuming a spatial regrouping of existing teak plantations, could contribute to the conservation and management of remaining natural forest patches in the Atlantic Department in Benin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service d’Ecologie du paysage et systèmes de production végétale, Université libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Jan Bogaert, Yao S. S. Barima, Léon Iyongo Waya Mongo, Issouf Bamba, Adi Mama & Mireille Toyi

  2. greenLab — Department of Scienze delle Produzioni Vegetali, Università degli Studi di Bari, Bari, Italy

    Raffaele Lafortezza

Authors
  1. Jan Bogaert
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  2. Yao S. S. Barima
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  3. Léon Iyongo Waya Mongo
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  4. Issouf Bamba
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  5. Adi Mama
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  6. Mireille Toyi
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  7. Raffaele Lafortezza
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Canadian Wood Fibre Centre Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 5320-122 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6H 3S5

    Chao Li

  2. greenLab Dept. Scienze delle Produzioni Vegetali, Università degli Studi di Bari, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126, Bari, Italy

    Raffaele Lafortezza

  3. Landscape Ecology & Ecosystem Science (LEES) Department of Environmental Sciences (DES) Bowman-Oddy Laboratories, Mail Stop 604, Toledo, OH, 43606-3390, USA

    Jiquan Chen

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Bogaert, J. et al. (2011). Forest Fragmentation: Causes, Ecological Impacts and Implications for Landscape Management. In: Li, C., Lafortezza, R., Chen, J. (eds) Landscape Ecology in Forest Management and Conservation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12754-0_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12754-0_12

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