Figure 22.8 Fragmentation of terrestrial habitats from the flooding of Lago Guri. In eastern Venezuela, a dam was constructed to form Lago Guri in 1978 and the area behind the dam was flooded. (a) Flooding caused the hills of the region to become islands in the lake. (b) On the smallest islands, large predators were no longer present, so the populations of herbivores increased, with a major effect on the vegetation. Sapling trees on small islands experienced the highest mortality and the lowest recruitment. Error bars are standard errors.

Photo by Peter Langer/DanitaDelimont.com. Data from J. Terborgh et al., Vegetation dynamics of predator-free land-bridge islands, Journal of Ecology 94 (2006): 253–263.