Natural Fragmentation

Anthropogenic biomes cascade
Across natural networks,
Swarming across this backdrop
With assumed transcendence.
Broken footprints disrupt
Fractured ecologies;
Disremembered territories
Whose buried cycles
Are trampled beneath the topsoil.
Our treads scar the landscape,
While conceited measurements of
Their length, breadth, and tread
Fail to catalogue the
Consequence of each stride.
Other biomes remain unranked
By the wildlife they support,
Serving instead as a
Moving scale of human impact:
Temperate grasslands,
Mangroves,
Mediterranean,
Tundra.
Yet even here, in the frozen forests
Of sparse populations
Our proud imprints can be felt;
Transparent measurements
Revealing the fragmentation
Of habitat that lies exposed
Beneath our feet.
Due to concerns over habitat fragmentation, wildlife crossings are starting to become increasingly common (Photo Credit: worldatlas.com).
This poem is inspired by recent research, which has found that