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Science 23 May 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5623, pp. 1239 - 1240
DOI: 10.1126/science.1083312
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Policy Forum

ECOLOGY:
Three-Gorges Dam--Experiment in Habitat Fragmentation?

Jianguo Wu,1,2 Jianhui Huang,2 Xingguo Han2, Zongqiang Xie2, Xianming Gao2

Habitat fragmentation is the primary cause of the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, but its underlying processes and mechanisms remain poorly understood. Studies of islands and insular terrestrial habitats are essential for improving our understanding of habitat fragmentation. We argue that the Three-Gorges Dam, the largest that humans have ever created, presents a unique grand-scale natural experiment that allows ecologists to address a range of critical questions concerning the theory and practice of biodiversity conservation.

J. Wu is in the Department of Plant Biology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA. E-mail: jingle.wu{at}asu.edu and Guest Professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. All other authors are at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.

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