Habitat loss is a major threat to biodiversity, but effects of habitat fragmentation are less clear. Examining drivers of key demographic processes, such as reproduction, will clarify species-level responses to fragmentation and broader effects on biodiversity. Yet, understanding how fragmentation affects demography has been challenging due to the many ways landscapes are altered by co-occurring habitat loss and fragmentation, coupled with the rarity of experiments to disentangle these effects. 

In a large, replicated fragmentation experiment with open savanna habitats surrounded by pine plantation forests, we tested the effects of inter-patch connectivity, patch edge-to-area ratio, and within-patch distance from an edge on plant reproductive output. Using five experimentally planted species of restoration interest – three wind-pollinated grass species and two insect-pollinated forb species – we measured plant flowering, pollination rate, and seed production.

All plant species were more likely to flower and produce more flowering structures farther from the forest edge. Connectivity and distance from an edge, however, had no effect on pollination rate (regardless of pollination mode). Despite no influence of fragmentation on pollination, plant seed production increased further from the edge for four of five species, driven by the increase in flower production.

Synthesis: Altogether, we demonstrate that plant reproductive output (seed production) is decreased by habitat fragmentation through edge effects on flowering. Our work provides evidence that an important contributor to plant demography, reproductive output, is altered by edge effects in fragmented patches. These species-level impacts of fragmentation may provide insight into the mechanisms of fragmentation effects on community-level changes in biodiversity.