With the explosion of the world's population reaching over seven billion people, habitat fragmentation has become a concerning issue for many environmentalists of all nations. Habitat fragmentation may be defined as "the process by which habitat loss results in the division of large, continuous habitats into smaller, more isolated remnants" (Didham). These fragmentations may be due to roads, buildings, fences, dams, housing developments, etc., which are creating stress on the biodiversity in those areas (Destruction of habitats and Fragmentation). The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines biodiversity as "biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals," which may be a blanket term for all species (Merriam-Webster). There are many different negative impacts on biodiversity in the world; however, this paper will discuss the effects of biodiversity through the lens of habitat fragmentation in regards to fences and how it is shaping the environment and its influence on biodiversity. It will provide specific examples in South Africa, Australia, and Kenya while determining possible solutions, such as wildlife corridors, fence deconstruction, and beehive fences, for the already overwhelming effects on biodiversity in all structures of life. Through habitat fragmentation with fences, humans have adversely affected the biodiversity of species in the wild in the forms of extinctions, aggressiveness in species, genetic variability, destruction of natural migration patterns, and ecosystem dismantling.

Habitat fragmentation may come in many forms; however, something as simple as a fence can cause major habitat fragmentation. In South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, Addo Park is famous for their elephant population due to females having no tusks, which is unheard of anywhere else in the world. However, after further studies, scientists conclude that this once believed amazing elephant population has been ravaged by inbreeding. In the past seventy years there have been no male immigrants to this park due to "a three-meter fence," which has been there since the 1930s (Fox). This well intended fence squashed the battle between farmers and the elephants intruding on their farms, which killed many elephants in years past. With the elephant population in the area at an astounding eleven before the fence, the population now reaches upwards of four hundred elephants; however, it has adversely affected the population as well. Due to the non permeable fence, the genetic pool in Addo Park has been stagnant to the point that researchers have been able to trace back all of the elephants' history in the park to a single male (Fox). Not only does the park lack genetic diversity due to habitat fragmentation, it also promotes aggression in the male elephants who need space to find a mate. One female's mating call can attract every male in the entire park, which is why "70 to 90 percent of male deaths over the past seven decades resulted from fights" (Fox). In Africa, there is no other location where elephants fight to the death as found in the isolated Addo Park. Not only is aggression and inbreeding a problem within the park, but a lack of natural selection in the park, which is making the population of these elephants reach critical point. Their overwhelming presence has created an environmental backlash, and overgrazing is a major issue for both the elephant population and the other species that inhabit the fenced in park. Overgrazing will put stress on the park's ecosystem, which will inevitably lead to greater problems. Further research has been done by researchers at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth and concludes that these elephants are now resorting to other types of nutrients that are not natural to them, which makes them "skinnier than elephants in five other parks" in Africa (Fox). This will be problematic for the population because it will eventually breed malnourished calves, which creates higher mortality rates within the population. The undeniable affects of habitat fragmentation are taking a toll on biodiversity in parks everywhere, which is why solutions are necessary to save entire populations. While many incidents of habitat fragmentation are in good spirit and are not made to adversely affect biodiversity, many of these occurrences ruin entire ecosystems that have been in place long before man. 

Fences that erect around parks, such as Addo Park intend to help species and keep ecosystems vibrant; however, most of the time this is not the case. Short term, the effects of fences are positive for many species and may save entire populations from extinction in a particular area. These fences are typically built in order to protect from outside forces such as poachers; however, the long term cons outweigh the short term pros. Recently, there have been many findings like in Addo Park that illustrate the deep long term negative impacts that these fences have on the area. Researchers are trying to find different ways to combat the problems in Addo Park, for example, males have been moved to the reserve to enhance the diminished genetic pool. However, this is costly for the organizations and unnatural for the elephants. Since the fence has been in place for over seven decades, it will cause many problems for the areas around the park to completely take down the fence. Taking down the fence will cause unintended backlash in the surrounding areas because villages and ecosystems will not be able to withstand the new immigrants from Addo Park; therefore, it seems to not be a viable solution. 

One proposal could be to create protected corridors that allow the elephants to move from Addo Park to multiple nearby reserves or natural areas similar to what has been done in Florida. Wildlife corridors have been slowly gaining valuable ground with them popping up in many different countries, including the United States. Wildlife corridors are links of "wildlife habitat, generally native vegetation, which joins two or more larger areas of similar wildlife habitat" using, for example, bridges or underpasses (NSW). In Florida, there is a natural wildlife corridor that allows the native Florida Black Bear and the Florida Panther to "travel to access different habitats or for parts of their life cycle," which is what the Florida Wildlife Corridor project is trying to preserve (The Florida Wildlife Corridor). Though this project is not talking about one single bridge, it is talking about a large amount of land used as an entire passage that allows many parks and areas to be connected without any outside structures blocking the paths of these animals' migration patterns in Florida. Besides passing laws to stop making highways and fences, many activists are using compromises like corridors to preserve nature and to save many animals that would most likely be extinct without these corridors connecting their habitats. Since elephants are a migratory species, these corridors will allow Addo Park residents to migrate to other reserves to find water during dry seasons and potential mates, and this will allow the elephants to resort back to their natural migration routes. However, their "movement pattern and/or morphology could change in response to habitat fragmentation," but the corridors will allow these elephants a safe network of travel (Joly). These corridors will need extensive research on the outlying areas, cooperation of many governments, and the education of people on these elephants in Africa. By having these corridors, the Addo Park elephants will disperse creating less aggression of males and allows for more genetic diversity in all of the reserves linked by the corridors. These migrations will allow for natural selection to control the population because many elephants will die along migration routes heading toward water sources as naturally intended by nature. By opening up these corridors, it will solve the crisis found specifically in Addo Park, but will unravel the ongoing problems in other fenced in communities as well. 

Similar problematic fences are causing a habitat fragmentation crisis all around the world because people are creating fences that they believe are helping the biodiversity in the area, but in other ways are hurting them even more gravely. Another example, of a fence effecting the biodiversity in the area is Australia's Dingo Fence. This fence is the largest fence in the world at five- thousand five-hundred and thirty-one kilometers, which separates the dingo population from many of their natural food sources, but was created to protect farmer's sheep from predation. The fence creates much debate due to its extreme length and its non permeable essence, which cuts the continent in half. The main effects of this major habitat fragmentation is that the dingo population "control[s] feral goats, as well as native herbivores such as kangaroos and emus," which are overgrazing the land without their natural predator keeping the populations in check (Dickman). This overgrazing has been a major problem in many areas in Australia and many plant species are diminishing. By taking this critical species out of the equation, Australia now holds the record for the "highest extinction rate for mammals over the past" two- hundred years due to the invasive Red Foxes and Feral Cats over population without their natural predator, the Australian Dingo (Dickman). When the fence was created in the late 1800s and early 1900s over twenty- nine prominent species have gone extinct. This should raise red flags for environmentalists because without a large amount of mammal species in the wild, the extinction rate will continue to snow ball due to the ecosystem being dismantled by the fence. The question now being asked by many is: what solutions can be implemented to combat habitat fragmentation?

Dingoes in Australia are considered a keystone species, "a plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in the way an ecosystem functions," and can be the solution to the ongoing extinction and overgrazing problem (Nation Geographic). There are proposals to reintroduce the dingoes in areas where they are no longer present due to the extensive habitat fragmentation in the area; therefore, the dingo population would be found on both sides of the fence. Areas like Australia's Western New South Wales is plagued with eroding soil, decimated vegetation, and high levels of extinction of native species due to their lack of presence there (Dickman). By reintroducing the dingoes, they will be able to keep the overpopulated herbivores in check and end the overgrazing in the area. Therefore, giving the plants in the area a chance to reemerge due to a lesser presence of herbivores. Though this seems to be a likely and well- established proposal, there can be other measures put in place to ensure a healthy environment in Australia. Since taking down a fence of that caliber is hardly an option, one can propose systematic opening of parts of the fence in certain areas throughout making the fence more permeable; it will allow only small numbers of dingoes through in a more natural way. The immigrations to the other side of the fence can be tracked by scientists at these openings; therefore, the dingo population can be monitored more closely. This will slowly reestablish the population on the other side of the fence. By using this method of reintroducing the dingoes, the majority of the dingo population will stay on the side they are intended to be while allowing a smaller population to enter the other side. This is beneficial to the ecosystem on the other side of the fence because if too many dingoes cross the fence then the ecosystem will be unbalanced and the dingoes will become the invasive species, and will cause harm other populations. This will reconstruct the natural ecosystem in Australia, and plants and animals will go back to their natural balance; the Red Foxes and other invasive species will be put in check as well; therefore, the extinction rate will decline since these species are the major factors for these extinctions. This solution to habitat fragmentation is not perfect, yet it will positively effect the biodiversity in the areas affected.

Many projects to fence in environments today are thought to be beneficial; however, the lack of research and education on the topic continues to be an enduring conflict. In Kenya's Mount Kenya and Mount Eburu, there has been conservation efforts to fence in these environments to protect the rhinos, elephants, and endangered species within the limits. These fences are thought to be the solution due to the increase poaching, illegal deforestation of the area, and other non- environmental factors such as less wildlife presence on farms and the use of "rivers [to] supply some of Kenya's most important farming areas" (Lambrechts). Though this fencing project seems to be a be the right course of action due to the positives of other fencing projects in Kenya, which aided in bringing back much vegetation and animal species in those areas. Unfortunately, these are all short term effects of fencing. As seen in other parts of Africa and Australia, the fences were stress reducing for the environment at first, but the long term cons outweigh the short term pros. Many conservation groups and "local communities ...  support or even drive conservation efforts," such as these fences being built because they do not see the unintended problems that come long after they have left the earth (Lambrechts). For example, the fence may lead to keeping vital species out or locked in the non- permeable wall. This will cause an unsteadiness in the ecosystems in and out of the fence though this may not be the case right away. Other effects of the fence will cause some species to overbreed due to a lack of natural predators that come into the area; therefore, these species will quickly deplete their food source and create a trophic cascade, which is an "ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food chain" (Carpenter). This may cause a substantial change in the ecosystem affected resulting in a collapse in the "trophic chain length" within the now isolated environment similar to what has been observed in Addo Park (Fahrig). It is difficult to research the long term effects of fences because it takes dedication over a long span of time to gather evidence to support the claim that there are negative impacts to fencing in ecosystems, which is why there is a need for viable solutions to this ongoing problem.

Many new techniques can be used to protect these environments without using impregnable fences. In regards to elephants, there are beehive fences, which are hives that are "hung every ten meters and linked together in a specific formation" (King). When an elephant touches one of the hives or connecting wire, the bees will release and scare off the elephants, which are not fond of bees. These permeable fences allow all other wildlife to cross, but keep elephants out of unwanted territories such as farms with an "over 80% success rate" (King). These cost effective fences can be constructed using local materials at a price of one hundred and fifty to five hundred USD. By spending less money on fencing, the savings can be used on the security of areas like Mount Kenya and Mount Eburu to stop poaching and illegal forestation. These simple solutions will have a better effect on the environment while producing the same level protection the people in Kenya are trying to do with the fences.

With the use of fences, humans are adversely effecting the biodiversity of the natural world by fragmenting natural ecosystems. Though many perceive building fences as a solution to poaching, wildlife invasion of farms, or to protect endangered species, it is only hurting what many are trying to protect. These fences create larger problems over extended periods of time as seen in Addo park with the dissembling on the elephants' genetic pool to the point of genetic suppression of their tusks due to inbreeding. Along with inbreeding, elephants in the park began to overpopulate the park and become more aggressive due to the lack of space to spread out. In Australia, fences began to disrupt the food chain and many species grew unchecked; therefore, causing overgrazing and high levels of the extinction since the dingoes were walled out in many places. Much of the opposition that faces habitat fragmentation is the lack of education on the topic, long term research, and cost undoing these projects. However, there are solutions being implemented today and other solutions yet to be administered. These solutions include wildlife corridors, reintroducing species to old habitats, systematic dissembling of these fences, and bee hive fences along with educating people on habitat fragmentation and further research on its affects. These solutions are just the beginning because habitat fragmentation has and will continue to be a problem as the world progresses and grows.

