Theory 51/Tropical Rainforest/Fragmentation
Fragments Fail on Edge
The claim
Forest fragmentation causes biodiversity collapse above a threshold in edge-to-area ratio, independent of total area lost.
01Mechanism
Edges change microclimate and allow generalists inward; when edges dominate the fragment, interior species have nowhere to persist.
02Prediction
Collapse should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Collapse tracking area alone would remove edge effects.