Article summary
Abstract
Habitat fragmentation and degradation represent two of the most pervasive threats to glob- al biodiversity, yet their functional consequences how they reshape community trait composi- tion, destabilise ecosystem processes, and constrain recovery remain incompletely synthesised. This review critically evaluates the mechanistic pathways through which landscape fragmenta- tion filters species traits, disrupts trophic interactions, and erodes ecosystem multifunctionality. Drawing on evidence from tropical forests, grasslands, urban ecosystems, and montane sky-is- lands, I argue that fragmentation acts primarily through three non-mutually exclusive mecha- nisms: environmental filtering along edge-to-interior gradients, dispersal limitation that gener- ates extinction debts, and trophic restructuring that propagates through interaction networks. Meta-analytical evidence indicates that fragmentation reduces α- and γ-diversity even after con- trolling for habitat amount, but the functional consequences depend critically on the correla- tion between response traits (which determine species vulnerability) and effect traits (which mediate ecosystem processes). Functional richness often declines faster than species richness in highly fragmented landscapes, yet functional divergence can sometimes increase when general- ist colonists occupy vacant trait space. I identify several unresolved debates: whether functional diversity consistently buffers ecosystem stability (meta-analyses show no general support), how extinction debts manifest across trophic levels and trait syndromes, and whether restoration corridors genuinely recover lost functional diversity or merely increase species counts without recovering interaction networks. A systematic literature review (2000–2026, n = 247 studies) reveals striking geographic and taxonomic biases tropical animal communities remain severe- ly understudied relative to temperate plants. I conclude that functional restoration must move beyond passive corridor construction toward active trophic reassembly and that future research should prioritize multi-temporal landscape histories, standardised trait databases, and experi- mental tests of interaction network recovery. Vol.:2 Issue:3 May-June 2026 || Shodhpith International Multidisciplinary Research Journal 33 www.shodhpith.com ISSN (Online): 3049-3331