Lenore Fahrig

{{Short description|Biologist}} {{Primarysources|biography|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | name = Lenore Fahrig | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Lenore Fahrig 0513.jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date =  | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | siglum = | pronounce = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = Landscape ecology Conservation biology Road ecology | workplaces = Carleton University | patrons = | education = | alma_mater = University of Toronto Carleton University Queen's University | thesis_title =  | thesis_url =  | thesis_year =  | doctoral_advisor =  | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website = {{URL|https://carleton.ca/fahriglab/}} | footnotes = }} '''Lenore Fahrig''' is a Canadian ecologist. She is a Chancellor's Professor in the biology department at Carleton University, Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Fahrig studies effects of landscape structure—the arrangement of forests, wetlands, roads, cities, and farmland—on wildlife populations and biodiversity,<ref>''Supra'' Note 1</ref> and is best known for her work on habitat fragmentation. In 2023, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/2023-nas-election.html | title=2023 NAS Election }}</ref>

== Early life and education == Fahrig is from Ottawa, Ontario. She completed a BSc (Biology) at Queen's University, Kingston, in 1981 and an MSc from Carleton University, Ottawa in 1983 under the supervision of Gray Merriam,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ecolandscapes.ca/gray-merriam/|title=Gray Merriam « EcoLandscapes|website=www.ecolandscapes.ca}}</ref> on habitat connectivity and population stability.<ref name="auto">{{cite thesis |last1=Fahrig |first1=L. |year=1983 |title=Habitat patch connectivity and population stability: a model and case study |url=https://curve.carleton.ca/637b54fb-bf82-4c01-ad8a-a0b80791b940 }}</ref> She completed her PhD in 1987 at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Jyri Paloheimo, on the effects of animal dispersal behaviour on the relationship between population size and habitat spatial arrangement.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Fahrig |first1=L. |year=1988 |title=Effects of dispersal behaviour on relationships between spatial arrangement of host patches and local population size |url=https://carleton.ca/glel/wp-content/uploads/Fahrig1988PhDThesis.pdf }}</ref>

== Research and career == After her PhD, Fahrig worked for two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia, researching how different plant dispersal strategies allow species to respond to environmental disturbances.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |last2=Coffin |first2=Debra P. |last3=Lauenroth |first3=William K. |last4=Shugart |first4=Herman H. |title=The advantage of long-distance clonal spreading in highly disturbed habitats |journal=Evolutionary Ecology |date=March 1994 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=172–187 |doi=10.1007/BF01238248 |s2cid=44059375 }}</ref> She then spent two years as a research scientist for the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, where she modeled the spatial and temporal interactions between fisheries and fish populations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=L |last2=Pope |first2=S E |last3=Henein |first3=K M |last4=Rose |first4=G A |title=Relative effects of trap versus trawl fisheries on population dynamics of the northern cod (''Gadus morhua'') stock |journal=Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |date=1 January 1998 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=76–85 |doi=10.1139/f97-215 }}</ref> In 1991 she joined the faculty of the Biology Department at Carleton University,<ref name="t540">{{cite web | title=About Lenore Fahrig | website=Fahrig Lab, Carleton University | date=2015-06-08 | url=https://carleton.ca/fahriglab/about/ | access-date=2024-08-22}}</ref> Ottawa, where, as of 2024, she is a Chancellor's Professor and the Gray Merriam Chair in Landscape Ecology.<ref name="b032">{{cite web | title=Lenore Fahrig | website=Carleton University | date=2009-10-19 | url=https://carleton.ca/biology/people/lenore-fahrig/ | access-date=2024-08-22}}</ref>

Fahrig is best known for her work on habitat fragmentation. Her early work in this area<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |last2=Merriam |first2=Gray |title=Conservation of Fragmented Populations |journal=Conservation Biology |date=March 1994 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=50–59 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08010050.x }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |title=Relative Effects of Habitat Loss and Fragmentation on Population Extinction |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |date=1997 |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=603–610 |doi=10.2307/3802168 |jstor=3802168 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |title=When does fragmentation of breeding habitat affect population survival? |journal=Ecological Modelling |date=January 1998 |volume=105 |issue=2–3 |pages=273–292 |doi=10.1016/S0304-3800(97)00163-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trzcinski |first1=M. Kurtis |last2=Fahrig |first2=Lenore |last3=Merriam |first3=Gray |title=Independent Effects of Forest Cover and Fragmentation on the Distribution of Forest Breeding Birds |journal=Ecological Applications |date=1999 |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=586–593 |doi=10.1890/1051-0761(1999)009[0586:IEOFCA]2.0.CO;2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=L. |title=How much habitat is enough? |journal=Biological Conservation |date=July 2001 |volume=100 |issue=1 |pages=65–74 |doi=10.1016/S0006-3207(00)00208-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |title=Effect of Habitat Fragmentation on the Extinction Threshold: A Synthesis |journal=Ecological Applications |date=2002 |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=346–353 |doi=10.1890/1051-0761(2002)012[0346:EOHFOT]2.0.CO;2 }}</ref> culminated in her highly cited 2003 review.<ref name=ar2003>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |title=Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Biodiversity |journal=Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics |date=November 2003 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=487–515 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132419 }}</ref> Fahrig argues that the effects of fragmentation (breaking of habitat into small patches) on biodiversity should be estimated independently of the effects of habitat loss, showing that the combined effects of habitat loss and fragmentation are almost entirely due to the effects of habitat loss alone. This is important for species conservation because it means that, on a per-area basis, habitat in small patches is as valuable for conservation as habitat in large patches. This finding negates a common 'excuse' for habitat destruction, namely the assumed low conservation value of small patches. Fahrig's later work on habitat fragmentation<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |title=Why do several small patches hold more species than few large patches? |journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography |date=April 2020 |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=615–628 |doi=10.1111/geb.13059 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Watling |first1=James I. |last2=Arroyo‐Rodríguez |first2=Victor |last3=Pfeifer |first3=Marion |last4=Baeten |first4=Lander |last5=Banks‐Leite |first5=Cristina |last6=Cisneros |first6=Laura M. |last7=Fang |first7=Rebecca |last8=Hamel‐Leigue |first8=A. Caroli |last9=Lachat |first9=Thibault |last10=Leal |first10=Inara R. |last11=Lens |first11=Luc |last12=Possingham |first12=Hugh P. |last13=Raheem |first13=Dinarzarde C. |last14=Ribeiro |first14=Danilo B. |last15=Slade |first15=Eleanor M. |last16=Urbina‐Cardona |first16=J. Nicolas |last17=Wood |first17=Eric M. |last18=Fahrig |first18=Lenore |title=Support for the habitat amount hypothesis from a global synthesis of species density studies |journal=Ecology Letters |date=April 2020 |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=674–681 |doi=10.1111/ele.13471 |pmid=32043741 |s2cid=211079202 |url=https://collected.jcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=fac_bib_2020 |doi-access=free }}</ref> found that effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity, independent of effects of habitat loss, are more likely to be positive than negative. This indicates that small patches have high cumulative value for biodiversity, and provides support for small-scale conservation efforts. Fahrig presented her work on habitat fragmentation at the International Biogeography Society's 50th anniversary celebration of'' The Theory of Island Biogeography'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biogeography.org/meetings/miami-2013/|title=Miami 2013|first=Karen|last=F}}</ref> and at the World Biodiversity Forum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldbiodiversityforum.org/en|title=Worldbiodiversityforum|website=Worldbiodiversityforum}}</ref> She published a retrospective article on her habitat fragmentation research for the 30th anniversary of the journal ''Global Ecology and Biogeography''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |title=Habitat fragmentation: A long and tangled tale |journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography |date=January 2019 |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=33–41 |doi=10.1111/geb.12839 |s2cid=91260144 }}</ref>

Fahrig has also worked on habitat connectivity, road ecology, and effects of cropland heterogeneity on biodiversity. Based on her MSc thesis in 1983,<ref name="auto"/> Fahrig and Merriam published the first paper on habitat connectivity.,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |last2=Merriam |first2=Gray |title=Habitat Patch Connectivity and Population Survival: Ecological Archives E066-008 |journal=Ecology |date=December 1985 |volume=66 |issue=6 |pages=1762–1768 |doi=10.2307/2937372 |jstor=2937372 }}</ref> and provided the earliest evidence for the concept of wildlife movement corridors. These concepts–habitat connectivity and wildlife movement corridors – are widely used in large-scale conservation planning, in municipal and regional greenways planning, and in mitigation of road effects on wildlife. Fahrig and colleagues' further work demonstrated the importance of distinguishing between structural and functional connectivity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Philip D. |last2=Fahrig |first2=Lenore |last3=Henein |first3=Kringen |last4=Merriam |first4=Gray |title=Connectivity Is a Vital Element of Landscape Structure |journal=Oikos |date=1993 |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=571–573 |doi=10.2307/3544927 |jstor=3544927 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tischendorf |first1=Lutz |last2=Fahrig |first2=Lenore |title=On the usage and measurement of landscape connectivity |journal=Oikos |date=July 2000 |volume=90 |issue=1 |pages=7–19 |doi=10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.900102.x }}</ref> and showed that habitat fragmentation does not necessarily decrease functional connectivity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tischendorf |first1=Lutz |last2=Fahrig |first2=Lenore |title=How should we measure landscape connectivity? |journal=Landscape Ecology |date=2000 |volume=15 |issue=7 |pages=633–641 |doi=10.1023/A:1008177324187 |s2cid=8910407 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goodwin |first1=Brett J. |last2=Fahrig |first2=Lenore |title=How does landscape structure influence landscape connectivity? |journal=Oikos |date=December 2002 |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=552–570 |doi=10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.11824.x }}</ref> Fahrig's contributions in road ecology include the first paper to show that roadkill causes declines in wildlife populations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |last2=Pedlar |first2=John H. |last3=Pope |first3=Shealagh E. |last4=Taylor |first4=Philip D. |last5=Wegner |first5=John F. |title=Effect of road traffic on amphibian density |journal=Biological Conservation |date=1995 |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=177–182 |doi=10.1016/0006-3207(94)00102-V |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/22t1h3q1 }}</ref> Her later work showed strong and widespread impacts of roads on wildlife populations.<ref name="book">{{Cite web |title=Island Press {{!}} Princeton University Press |url=https://press.princeton.edu/imprints/island-press |access-date=2026-05-25 |website=press.princeton.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Rytwinski & Fahrig 2011">{{cite journal |last1=Rytwinski |first1=Trina |last2=Fahrig |first2=Lenore |title=Reproductive rate and body size predict road impacts on mammal abundance |journal=Ecological Applications |date=March 2011 |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=589–600 |doi=10.1890/10-0968.1 |pmid=21563588 }}</ref> Fahrig and her students found that the groups of species whose populations are most impacted by roads are amphibians, reptiles, and mammals with low reproductive rates.<ref name="Rytwinski & Fahrig 2011"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rytwinski |first1=Trina |last2=Fahrig |first2=Lenore |title=Do species life history traits explain population responses to roads? A meta-analysis |journal=Biological Conservation |date=March 2012 |volume=147 |issue=1 |pages=87–98 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.023 |s2cid=40182154 }}</ref> They also argued that high roadkill sites arenot necessarily the best sites for mitigating road effects on wildlife,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zimmermann Teixeira |first1=Fernanda |last2=Kindel |first2=Andreas |last3=Hartz |first3=Sandra Maria |last4=Mitchell |first4=Scott |last5=Fahrig |first5=Lenore |title=When road-kill hotspots do not indicate the best sites for road-kill mitigation |journal=Journal of Applied Ecology |date=October 2017 |volume=54 |issue=5 |pages=1544–1551 |doi=10.1111/1365-2664.12870 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and that ecopassages alone do not reduce roadkill.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cunnington |first1=Glenn M. |last2=Garrah |first2=Evelyn |last3=Eberhardt |first3=Ewen |last4=Fahrig |first4=Lenore |title=Culverts alone do not reduce road mortality in anurans |journal=Écoscience |date=March 2014 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=69–78 |doi=10.2980/21-1-3673 |s2cid=53941382 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rytwinski |first1=Trina |last2=Soanes |first2=Kylie |last3=Jaeger |first3=Jochen A. G. |last4=Fahrig |first4=Lenore |last5=Findlay |first5=C. Scott |last6=Houlahan |first6=Jeff |last7=van der Ree |first7=Rodney |last8=van der Grift |first8=Edgar A |title=How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis |journal=PLOS ONE |date=21 November 2016 |volume=11 |issue=11 |article-number=e0166941 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0166941 |pmid=27870889 |pmc=5117745 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1166941R |doi-access=free }}</ref> Her research on cropland heterogeneity shows that regions with small crop fields have higher biodiversity than regions with large crop fields, even when the total area under crop production is the same.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |last2=Girard |first2=Judith |last3=Duro |first3=Dennis |last4=Pasher |first4=Jon |last5=Smith |first5=Adam |last6=Javorek |first6=Steve |last7=King |first7=Douglas |last8=Lindsay |first8=Kathryn Freemark |last9=Mitchell |first9=Scott |last10=Tischendorf |first10=Lutz |title=Farmlands with smaller crop fields have higher within-field biodiversity |journal=Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment |date=February 2015 |volume=200 |pages=219–234 |doi=10.1016/j.agee.2014.11.018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sirami |first1=Clélia |last2=Gross |first2=Nicolas |last3=Baillod |first3=Aliette Bosem |last4=Bertrand |first4=Colette |last5=Carrié |first5=Romain |last6=Hass |first6=Annika |last7=Henckel |first7=Laura |last8=Miguet |first8=Paul |last9=Vuillot |first9=Carole |last10=Alignier |first10=Audrey |last11=Girard |first11=Jude |last12=Batáry |first12=Péter |last13=Clough |first13=Yann |last14=Violle |first14=Cyrille |last15=Giralt |first15=David |last16=Bota |first16=Gerard |last17=Badenhausser |first17=Isabelle |last18=Lefebvre |first18=Gaëtan |last19=Gauffre |first19=Bertrand |last20=Vialatte |first20=Aude |last21=Calatayud |first21=François |last22=Gil-Tena |first22=Assu |last23=Tischendorf |first23=Lutz |last24=Mitchell |first24=Scott |last25=Lindsay |first25=Kathryn |last26=Georges |first26=Romain |last27=Hilaire |first27=Samuel |last28=Recasens |first28=Jordi |last29=Solé-Senan |first29=Xavier Oriol |last30=Robleño |first30=Irene |last31=Bosch |first31=Jordi |last32=Barrientos |first32=Jose Antonio |last33=Ricarte |first33=Antonio |last34=Marcos-Garcia |first34=Maria Ángeles |last35=Miñano |first35=Jesús |last36=Mathevet |first36=Raphaël |last37=Gibon |first37=Annick |last38=Baudry |first38=Jacques |last39=Balent |first39=Gérard |last40=Poulin |first40=Brigitte |last41=Burel |first41=Françoise |last42=Tscharntke |first42=Teja |last43=Bretagnolle |first43=Vincent |last44=Siriwardena |first44=Gavin |last45=Ouin |first45=Annie |last46=Brotons |first46=Lluis |last47=Martin |first47=Jean-Louis |last48=Fahrig |first48=Lenore |title=Increasing crop heterogeneity enhances multitrophic diversity across agricultural regions |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=13 August 2019 |volume=116 |issue=33 |pages=16442–16447 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1906419116 |pmid=31358630 |pmc=6697893 |bibcode=2019PNAS..11616442S |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahrig |first1=Lenore |title=Rethinking patch size and isolation effects: the habitat amount hypothesis |journal=Journal of Biogeography |date=September 2013 |volume=40 |issue=9 |pages=1649–1663 |doi=10.1111/jbi.12130 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Further, her group showed that this benefit of cropland heterogeneity to biodiversity is as large as the benefits from reducing intense practices such as pesticide use.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Amanda E. |last2=Collins |first2=Sara J. |last3=Crowe |first3=Susie |last4=Girard |first4=Judith |last5=Naujokaitis-Lewis |first5=Ilona |last6=Smith |first6=Adam C. |last7=Lindsay |first7=Kathryn |last8=Mitchell |first8=Scott |last9=Fahrig |first9=Lenore |title=Effects of farmland heterogeneity on biodiversity are similar to—or even larger than—the effects of farming practices |journal=Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment |date=February 2020 |volume=288 |article-number=106698 |doi=10.1016/j.agee.2019.106698 |doi-access=free }}</ref> She is a co-author of a book on road ecology,<ref name=book /> and several major reviews of the subject.<ref name=ar2003 /><ref name=ar2017>{{cite journal|last1=Fahrig|first1=Lenore|date=2 November 2017|title=Ecological Responses to Habitat Fragmentation Per Se|journal=Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics|volume=48|issue=1|pages=1–23|doi=10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022612}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fahrig|first1=Lenore|last2=Rytwinski|first2=Trina|date=2009|title=Effects of Roads on Animal Abundance: an Empirical Review and Synthesis|journal=Ecology and Society|volume=14|issue=1|doi=10.5751/ES-02815-140121|jstor=26268057|hdl-access=free|hdl=10535/2475}}</ref>

== Honours and distinctions == * 2016 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://research.carleton.ca/distinctions/royal-society-of-canada/|title=Royal Society of Canada|website=Research}}</ref> * 2018 Miroslaw Romanowski Medal for environmental science<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newsroom.carleton.ca/2018/carletons-lenore-fahrig-awarded-royal-society-medal-for-environmental-research/|title=Carleton's Lenore Fahrig Awarded Royal Society Medal for Environmental Research|date=18 September 2018}}</ref> * 2019 Chancellor's Professor: highest honour by Carleton University for research and scholarship<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://carleton.ca/provost/2019/chancellors-professors/|title=Profs. Lenore Fahrig and Shikharesh Majumdar Appointed as Chancellor's Professors|website=carleton.ca|date=24 July 2019 }}</ref> * 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship in Geography & Environmental Studies from the Guggenheim Foundation<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gf.org/announcement-2021/|title=John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Announcement 2021|access-date=2021-05-14|archive-date=2022-01-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109223245/https://www.gf.org/announcement-2021/}}</ref> * 2021 President's Award from the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution for Research Excellence<ref>https://twitter.com/CSEE_SCEE/status/1390738216886571010{{rs|date=July 2021}}</ref> * 2021 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in Ecology and Conservation Biology<ref>[https://www.frontiersofknowledgeawards-fbbva.es/noticias/the-frontiers-award-goes-to-fahrig-levin-and-pickett-for-adding-the-spatial-dimension-to-ecological-science-and-applying-it-to-the-design-of-nature-reserves-and-more-sustainable-cities/ BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards 2021]</ref> * 2022 Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newsroom.carleton.ca/story/top-canadian-science-and-engineering-prizes-for-carleton-researchers/|title=Top Canadian Science and Engineering Prizes For Carleton Researchers|date=25 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Semeniuk |first1=Ivan |title=Ecologist who showed how nature endures in our midst wins Canada's top science prize |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-lenore-farhig-gerhard-herzberg-canada-gold-medal/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=13 July 2023 |date=25 October 2022 |quote=the Carleton University professor was named this year's winner of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal.}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahrig, Lenore}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Academic staff of Carleton University Category:20th-century Canadian women scientists Category:Carleton University alumni Category:Canadian ecologists Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Category:Queen's University at Kingston alumni Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Women ecologists Category:21st-century Canadian women scientists