Citation. Tilman, D.; Lehman, C.; May, R.; Nowak, M. 1996. Species fragmentation or area loss? (Reply to Budiansky.) Nature 382:215-216.   [1587  LTER]

Excerpt. These spatially explicit versions of our analytical model demonstrate that control of the spatial pattern of habitat destruction can be a significant management tool for minimizing extinctions. Equally as important, they show that habitat destruction can differentially harm abundant, superior competitors that are poor dispersers. This novel and alarming prediction of biased extinction was the central point of our paper. Its robustness, in response to many alternative spatial patterns of destruction, reaffirms our warning that the time-delayed extinction of originally abundant species may be an unexpected consequence of habitat destruction.