Islandisation
Islandisation
Islandisation can be closely related to habitat destruction, it is when habitat is broken up from one large area into a number of smaller fragments, for example a large forest could be split by a road or a rocky area could be split be a river, larger species can cross a road or a small river but small creatures may not be able to the expanse is too large (example of expanse too large in image), fear of the unknown, some of these animals have evolved over millions of years in an unbroken environment , and they will not easily adapt to a rapid change in there environment, as they are unaccustomed to the new wide expanse within their environment they will backtrack and simply exist in the habitat they have always known, for a species with strong territorial tendencies their offspring will need to leave to establish their own territory as the original territory is now much smaller conflict could arise, and reduced fecundity and changes in behaviour patterns. Additionally without any sort of land bridge between the divided territories no intermingling of the gene pool or dispersal of new generations can take place resulting in speciation and a gradual impoverishment of their former rich food supplies. (Worldpress, n.d.). The result of islandisation is that the species that survive in these small pockets of habitat may be localised to them and if any further disruption were to happen to their small habitat then the animal would become vulnerable to extinction. (EcoWalktheTalk., 2014) An example of this is the polar bear (seen in image below) due to climate change their ice habitat is melting, these animals relay on the ice to be able to hunt, the reduction of their habitat means reduction of food, drop in body condition, lower cub survival rate, increases incidents of drowning, increases incidents of cannibalism, less areas to den in, inevitably a decline in population size (Cox, 2011)
Evaluation
Islandisation has a huge effect on the behaviour of the animal it affects they must either have the ability to adapt to their new much smaller environments or simply over time become extinct, as many animal like the polar bear do not have the ability to change over the course of time many of the animal we respect and admire will become extinct, the only advantage to the islanidation is the fact that for the animal that could adapt new sub species could be produced with the behavioural capabilities of adapting to varying environmental changes.