Insect populations in fragmented habitats.

A selection of empirical studies on the effect of habitat fragmentation on insect populations is reviewed, and several reasons why empirical studies may fail to document significant fragmentation effects are discussed. The key predictions of the metapopulation theory about the consequences of habitat fragmentation for metapopulation viability are outlined. The role of changing landscape structure on the dynamics of metapopulations and possible evolutionary responses to habitat fragmentation in insect populations is described. An example of how conservation efforts can be misguided by ignoring the consequences of habitat fragmentation, and attempts to merge spatial population dynamics into the design of reserves in fragmented landscapes are presented.