Farm management fragmentation in Nova Scotia does not affect farm habitat provision

Farmland comprises an important opportunity for biodiversity conservation worldwide. The likelihood of a farmer fostering habitat for biodiversity has been studied from the perspective of personal or economic drivers. Beyond farm area, the geographic characteristics of the farmland itself—such as parcel sizes, numbers, and distribution—are rarely considered. This paper uses a landholder survey (n = 350, 37% response rate) to explore the variety of farmland management fragmentation and its implications for habitat on farms, specifically ponds, wetlands, and woodlands. This exploratory research was implemented in Nova Scotia, a relatively long-settled province of Canada, which is subject to inheritance, farmland abandonment, and farm expansion. An index and a typology of management fragmentation were developed, based on geographical impacts (increased distance to travel and edge per unit area), drawing on hypotheses about how geography may affect farmer decision making about habitat. Results suggest that farm size matters more than fragmentation, but also that perceptions of ecosystem services from each ecosystem may have an impact. Suggestions for further research are provided, including alternative methods that could be used and testing these insights in more homogenous agricultural landscapes.