Isolation or fragmentation restricts the range of plants and animals, exposing them to disease or predators. Edge effects also allows non-native species easy access to the borders of the forest. As part of the rain forest is cut down by farmers, ranchers, and loggers, the plants and animals are left to die. If all deforestation happened along the outside boundaries of the forest, then some of the species could move deeper into the Amazon to survive. But that doesn't happen.
Fragmentation weakens the rain forest, producing sections of deforested areas.
These sections of forest do not have what they need to keep the plants and animals that live there alive. The breaking-up of the rain forest prevents species from moving between different parts of the forest, further weakening them. Then loggers come along and cut down more trees and the deforested areas spread around the roads, creating what is called edge effects. We must consider more than just the loss of homes for plants and animals by clear-cutting. Efforts to protect the Amazon Rain Forest and to protect the species who live there must take into account how deforestation occurs.