The role of corridors in biodiversity conservation in production forest landscapes: a litterature review.

Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to biodiversity conservation. One way of mitigating the negative effects of fragmentation is to improve habitat connectivity. Habitat corridors have been shown to be valuable for the conservation of various groups of wildlife and in various situations (e.g. urban, agricultural, production forest landscapes), although individual species vary in their use of corridors. Retained areas of native forest within plantations are beneficial for wildlife conservation, although their main benefit may be as retained habitat rather than dispersal corridors. Recent research in Tasmania has highlighted the value of wildlife habitat strips for conservation of vegetation and birds. Wildlife habitat strips form an important component of the conservation program in production forest landscapes. However, they cannot stand alone as a conservation measure; complementary measures such as reservation of extensive forested areas are also necessary.