Which environmental impact is commonly associated with the concept of habitat fragmentation?

Habitat fragmentation is a process where large, contiguous habitats are divided into smaller, isolated patches, typically due to human activities such as deforestation, urban development, and agriculture. One significant environmental impact of habitat fragmentation is the decrease in biodiversity.

When habitats are fragmented, species that rely on large areas for their survival often find it challenging to thrive. This is due to reduced available resources, limited genetic diversity, and increased competition for food and shelter as populations become isolated. Small, fragmented patches may not support the same number of individuals or species as larger, continuous habitats, leading to local extinctions. Additionally, the edges of these fragments typically experience different environmental conditions than the interior, which can further stress species that prefer specific microhabitats.

In contrast, the other options do not accurately reflect the impacts of habitat fragmentation. Habitat fragmentation does not lead to an increase in habitat size, improved species interactions, or enhanced plant growth; instead, it often creates barriers to movement and dispersal, disrupts ecological processes, and contributes to the overall decline of wildlife populations and biodiversity. Thus, the decrease in biodiversity is a clear and widely recognized consequence of habitat fragmentation.