Authors: Jeltsch, Florian; Rohwäder, Marie-Sophie;Szangolies, Leonna ;

Habitat loss poses a substantial threat to biodiversity, but whether fragmentation per se drives the loss of species is still widely debated. While negative consequences from fragmentation are often anticipated, many empirical studies report positive effects suggesting that intrinsic mechanisms governing species’ persistence are not fully understood. We investigated consistent personality-dependent differences in foraging behaviour among individuals as a possible mechanism underlying the discrepancy of reported fragmentation effects. We used a mechanistic individual-based model to simulate home range behaviour of a competitive mammal community based on the availability of a shared resource. Thereby, the personality of an individual dictates its foraging decisions at risky habitat edges, an inherent property of fragmentation per se. Our simulations show that differences in risk-taking while foraging are a further mechanism contributing to the reconciliation of the fragmentation debate. While risk-averse communities displaying edge avoidance confirm the negative effects of fragmentation, risk-prone communities show a neutral response. Furthermore, fragmentation positively impacts biodiversity and species coexistence for behaviourally diverse communities including risk-averse and risk-prone individuals. Our study highlights the importance of recognizing the behavioural composition of communities for estimating fragmentation effects, because different personalities can influence the coping abilities of animal communities in light of fragmentation.