Jump to content

Lenore Fahrig

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lenore Fahrig
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Carleton University
Queen's University
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering
Scientific career
FieldsLandscape ecology
Conservation biology
Road ecology
InstitutionsCarleton University
Websitecarleton.ca/fahriglab/

Lenore Fahrig is a Chancellor's Professor in the biology department at Carleton University, Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Fahrig studies effects of landscape structure—the arrangement of forests, wetlands, roads, cities, and farmland—on wildlife populations and biodiversity, [1] and is best known for her work on habitat fragmentation. In 2023, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.[2]

Early life and education

[edit]

Fahrig is from Ottawa, Ontario. She completed a BSc (Biology) at Queen's University, Kingston, in 1981 and an MSc from Carleton University, Ottawa in 1983 under the supervision of Gray Merriam,[3] on habitat connectivity and population stability.[4] She completed her PhD in 1987 at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Jyri Paloheimo, on the effects of animal dispersal behaviour on the relationship between population size and habitat spatial arrangement.[5]

Research and career

[edit]

After her PhD, Fahrig worked for two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia, researching how different plant dispersal strategies allow species to respond to environmental disturbances.[6] She then spent two years as a research scientist for the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, where she modeled the spatial and temporal interactions between fisheries and fish populations.[7] In 1991 she moved to the faculty of the Biology Department, Carleton University, Ottawa, and has since been appointed a Chancellor's Professor.[citation needed]

Fahrig is best known for her work on habitat fragmentation. Her early work in this area[8][9][10][11][12][13] culminated in her highly cited 2003 review.[14] Fahrig argues that the effects of fragmentation (breaking of habitat into small patches) on biodiversity should be estimated independently of the effects of habitat loss, showing that the combined effects of habitat loss and fragmentation are almost entirely due to the effects of habitat loss alone. This is important for species conservation because it means that, on a per-area basis, habitat in small patches is as valuable for conservation as habitat in large patches. This finding negates a common 'excuse' for habitat destruction, namely the assumed low conservation value of small patches. Fahrig's later work on habitat fragmentation[15][16] found that effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity, independent of effects of habitat loss, are more likely to be positive than negative. This indicates that small patches have high cumulative value for biodiversity, and provides support for small-scale conservation efforts. Fahrig presented her work on habitat fragmentation at the International Biogeography Society's 50th anniversary celebration of The Theory of Island Biogeography,[17] and at the World Biodiversity Forum.[18] She published a retrospective article on her habitat fragmentation research for the 30th anniversary of the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.[19]

Fahrig has also worked on habitat connectivity, road ecology, and effects of cropland heterogeneity on biodiversity. Based on her MSc thesis in 1983,[4] Fahrig and Merriam published the first paper on habitat connectivity., [20] and provided the earliest evidence for the concept of wildlife movement corridors. These concepts–habitat connectivity and wildlife movement corridors – are widely used in large-scale conservation planning, in municipal and regional greenways planning, and in mitigation of road effects on wildlife. Fahrig and colleagues' further work demonstrated the importance of distinguishing between structural and functional connectivity.[21][22] and showed that habitat fragmentation does not necessarily decrease functional connectivity.[23][24] Fahrig's contributions in road ecology include the first paper to show that roadkill causes declines in wildlife populations.[25] Her later work showed strong and widespread impacts of roads on wildlife populations.[26][27] Fahrig and her students found that the groups of species whose populations are most impacted by roads are amphibians, reptiles, and mammals with low reproductive rates.[27][28] They also argued that high roadkill sites arenot necessarily the best sites for mitigating road effects on wildlife,[29] and that ecopassages alone do not reduce roadkill.[30][31] Her research on cropland heterogeneity shows that regions with small crop fields have higher biodiversity than regions with large crop fields, even when the total area under crop production is the same.[32][33][34] Further, her group showed that this benefit of cropland heterogeneity to biodiversity is as large as the benefits from reducing intense practices such as pesticide use.[35] She is a co-author of a book on road ecology,[26] and several major reviews of the subject. [14][36] [37]

Honours and distinctions

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Supra Note 1
  2. ^ "2023 NAS Election".
  3. ^ "Gray Merriam « EcoLandscapes". www.ecolandscapes.ca.
  4. ^ a b Fahrig, L. (1983). Habitat patch connectivity and population stability: a model and case study (Thesis).
  5. ^ Fahrig, L. (1988). Effects of dispersal behaviour on relationships between spatial arrangement of host patches and local population size (PDF) (Thesis).
  6. ^ Fahrig, Lenore; Coffin, Debra P.; Lauenroth, William K.; Shugart, Herman H. (March 1994). "The advantage of long-distance clonal spreading in highly disturbed habitats". Evolutionary Ecology. 8 (2): 172–187. doi:10.1007/BF01238248. S2CID 44059375.
  7. ^ Fahrig, L; Pope, S E; Henein, K M; Rose, G A (1 January 1998). "Relative effects of trap versus trawl fisheries on population dynamics of the northern cod (Gadus morhua) stock". Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 55 (1): 76–85. doi:10.1139/f97-215.
  8. ^ Fahrig, Lenore; Merriam, Gray (March 1994). "Conservation of Fragmented Populations". Conservation Biology. 8 (1): 50–59. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08010050.x.
  9. ^ Fahrig, Lenore (1997). "Relative Effects of Habitat Loss and Fragmentation on Population Extinction". The Journal of Wildlife Management. 61 (3): 603–610. doi:10.2307/3802168. JSTOR 3802168.
  10. ^ Fahrig, Lenore (January 1998). "When does fragmentation of breeding habitat affect population survival?". Ecological Modelling. 105 (2–3): 273–292. doi:10.1016/S0304-3800(97)00163-4.
  11. ^ Trzcinski, M. Kurtis; Fahrig, Lenore; Merriam, Gray (1999). "Independent Effects of Forest Cover and Fragmentation on the Distribution of Forest Breeding Birds". Ecological Applications. 9 (2): 586–593. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(1999)009[0586:IEOFCA]2.0.CO;2.
  12. ^ Fahrig, L. (July 2001). "How much habitat is enough?". Biological Conservation. 100 (1): 65–74. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(00)00208-1.
  13. ^ Fahrig, Lenore (2002). "Effect of Habitat Fragmentation on the Extinction Threshold: A Synthesis". Ecological Applications. 12 (2): 346–353. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2002)012[0346:EOHFOT]2.0.CO;2.
  14. ^ a b Fahrig, Lenore (November 2003). "Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Biodiversity". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 34 (1): 487–515. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132419.
  15. ^ Fahrig, Lenore (April 2020). "Why do several small patches hold more species than few large patches?". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 29 (4): 615–628. doi:10.1111/geb.13059.
  16. ^ Watling, James I.; Arroyo‐Rodríguez, Victor; Pfeifer, Marion; Baeten, Lander; Banks‐Leite, Cristina; Cisneros, Laura M.; Fang, Rebecca; Hamel‐Leigue, A. Caroli; Lachat, Thibault; Leal, Inara R.; Lens, Luc; Possingham, Hugh P.; Raheem, Dinarzarde C.; Ribeiro, Danilo B.; Slade, Eleanor M.; Urbina‐Cardona, J. Nicolas; Wood, Eric M.; Fahrig, Lenore (April 2020). "Support for the habitat amount hypothesis from a global synthesis of species density studies". Ecology Letters. 23 (4): 674–681. doi:10.1111/ele.13471. PMID 32043741. S2CID 211079202.
  17. ^ F, Karen. "Miami 2013".
  18. ^ "Worldbiodiversityforum". Worldbiodiversityforum.
  19. ^ Fahrig, Lenore (January 2019). "Habitat fragmentation: A long and tangled tale". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 28 (1): 33–41. doi:10.1111/geb.12839. S2CID 91260144.
  20. ^ Fahrig, Lenore; Merriam, Gray (December 1985). "Habitat Patch Connectivity and Population Survival: Ecological Archives E066-008". Ecology. 66 (6): 1762–1768. doi:10.2307/2937372. JSTOR 2937372.
  21. ^ Taylor, Philip D.; Fahrig, Lenore; Henein, Kringen; Merriam, Gray (1993). "Connectivity Is a Vital Element of Landscape Structure". Oikos. 68 (3): 571–573. doi:10.2307/3544927. JSTOR 3544927.
  22. ^ Tischendorf, Lutz; Fahrig, Lenore (July 2000). "On the usage and measurement of landscape connectivity". Oikos. 90 (1): 7–19. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.900102.x.
  23. ^ Tischendorf, Lutz; Fahrig, Lenore (2000). "How should we measure landscape connectivity?". Landscape Ecology. 15 (7): 633–641. doi:10.1023/A:1008177324187. S2CID 8910407.
  24. ^ Goodwin, Brett J.; Fahrig, Lenore (December 2002). "How does landscape structure influence landscape connectivity?". Oikos. 99 (3): 552–570. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.11824.x.
  25. ^ Fahrig, Lenore; Pedlar, John H.; Pope, Shealagh E.; Taylor, Philip D.; Wegner, John F. (1995). "Effect of road traffic on amphibian density". Biological Conservation. 73 (3): 177–182. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(94)00102-V.
  26. ^ a b Forman RTT, Sperling D, Bissonette JA, Clevenger AP, Cutshall CD, Dale VH, Fahrig L, France R, Goldman CR, Heanue K, Jones JA, Swanson FJ, Turrentine T, Winter TC. 2003. Road ecology: Science and solutions. Island Press, Washington, https://islandpress.org/books/road-ecology
  27. ^ a b Rytwinski, Trina; Fahrig, Lenore (March 2011). "Reproductive rate and body size predict road impacts on mammal abundance". Ecological Applications. 21 (2): 589–600. doi:10.1890/10-0968.1. PMID 21563588.
  28. ^ Rytwinski, Trina; Fahrig, Lenore (March 2012). "Do species life history traits explain population responses to roads? A meta-analysis". Biological Conservation. 147 (1): 87–98. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.023. S2CID 40182154.
  29. ^ Zimmermann Teixeira, Fernanda; Kindel, Andreas; Hartz, Sandra Maria; Mitchell, Scott; Fahrig, Lenore (October 2017). "When road-kill hotspots do not indicate the best sites for road-kill mitigation". Journal of Applied Ecology. 54 (5): 1544–1551. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12870.
  30. ^ Cunnington, Glenn M.; Garrah, Evelyn; Eberhardt, Ewen; Fahrig, Lenore (March 2014). "Culverts alone do not reduce road mortality in anurans". Écoscience. 21 (1): 69–78. doi:10.2980/21-1-3673. S2CID 53941382.
  31. ^ Rytwinski, Trina; Soanes, Kylie; Jaeger, Jochen A. G.; Fahrig, Lenore; Findlay, C. Scott; Houlahan, Jeff; van der Ree, Rodney; van der Grift, Edgar A (21 November 2016). "How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis". PLOS ONE. 11 (11): e0166941. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1166941R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0166941. PMC 5117745. PMID 27870889.
  32. ^ Fahrig, Lenore; Girard, Judith; Duro, Dennis; Pasher, Jon; Smith, Adam; Javorek, Steve; King, Douglas; Lindsay, Kathryn Freemark; Mitchell, Scott; Tischendorf, Lutz (February 2015). "Farmlands with smaller crop fields have higher within-field biodiversity". Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 200: 219–234. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2014.11.018.
  33. ^ Sirami, Clélia; Gross, Nicolas; Baillod, Aliette Bosem; Bertrand, Colette; Carrié, Romain; Hass, Annika; Henckel, Laura; Miguet, Paul; Vuillot, Carole; Alignier, Audrey; Girard, Jude; Batáry, Péter; Clough, Yann; Violle, Cyrille; Giralt, David; Bota, Gerard; Badenhausser, Isabelle; Lefebvre, Gaëtan; Gauffre, Bertrand; Vialatte, Aude; Calatayud, François; Gil-Tena, Assu; Tischendorf, Lutz; Mitchell, Scott; Lindsay, Kathryn; Georges, Romain; Hilaire, Samuel; Recasens, Jordi; Solé-Senan, Xavier Oriol; Robleño, Irene; Bosch, Jordi; Barrientos, Jose Antonio; Ricarte, Antonio; Marcos-Garcia, Maria Ángeles; Miñano, Jesús; Mathevet, Raphaël; Gibon, Annick; Baudry, Jacques; Balent, Gérard; Poulin, Brigitte; Burel, Françoise; Tscharntke, Teja; Bretagnolle, Vincent; Siriwardena, Gavin; Ouin, Annie; Brotons, Lluis; Martin, Jean-Louis; Fahrig, Lenore (13 August 2019). "Increasing crop heterogeneity enhances multitrophic diversity across agricultural regions". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (33): 16442–16447. Bibcode:2019PNAS..11616442S. doi:10.1073/pnas.1906419116. PMC 6697893. PMID 31358630.
  34. ^ Fahrig, Lenore (September 2013). "Rethinking patch size and isolation effects: the habitat amount hypothesis". Journal of Biogeography. 40 (9): 1649–1663. doi:10.1111/jbi.12130.
  35. ^ Martin, Amanda E.; Collins, Sara J.; Crowe, Susie; Girard, Judith; Naujokaitis-Lewis, Ilona; Smith, Adam C.; Lindsay, Kathryn; Mitchell, Scott; Fahrig, Lenore (February 2020). "Effects of farmland heterogeneity on biodiversity are similar to—or even larger than—the effects of farming practices". Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 288: 106698. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2019.106698.
  36. ^ Fahrig, Lenore (2 November 2017). "Ecological Responses to Habitat Fragmentation Per Se". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 48 (1): 1–23. doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022612.
  37. ^ Fahrig, Lenore; Rytwinski, Trina (2009). "Effects of Roads on Animal Abundance: an Empirical Review and Synthesis". Ecology and Society. 14 (1). doi:10.5751/ES-02815-140121. hdl:10535/2475. JSTOR 26268057.
  38. ^ "Royal Society of Canada". Research.
  39. ^ "Carleton's Lenore Fahrig Awarded Royal Society Medal for Environmental Research". 18 September 2018.
  40. ^ "Profs. Lenore Fahrig and Shikharesh Majumdar Appointed as Chancellor's Professors". carleton.ca. 24 July 2019.
  41. ^ "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Announcement 2021".
  42. ^ https://twitter.com/CSEE_SCEE/status/1390738216886571010[unreliable source?]
  43. ^ BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards 2021
  44. ^ "Top Canadian Science and Engineering Prizes For Carleton Researchers". 25 October 2022.
  45. ^ Semeniuk, Ivan (25 October 2022). "Ecologist who showed how nature endures in our midst wins Canada's top science prize". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 13 July 2023. the Carleton University professor was named this year's winner of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lenore_Fahrig&oldid=1214080477"