Habitat loss is the main force driving global species loss. A likely mechanism for biodiversity loss due to reducted habitat size is destabilisation of food webs. Reduction in habitat size can act to affect patterns of biodiversity in three ways. 1/ Reduction in movement of organisms concentrates species interactions such as competition and predation. 2/ Reduction in renewal of prey resources, means that areas can support smaller population sizes. Smaller populations are more vulnerable to stochastic effects such as major disturbances. 3/ Reduction in habitat size can limit refuges for prey, increasing the effects of predation. All of these processes are thought to reduce food web stability, but there has been a general lack of studies which have been able to explore the dynamic consequences of reduction in habitat size, despite the importance of this process. Streams offer excellent opportunities for natural size-based experiments, and detailed knowledge of New Zealand stream food webs suggests larger streams support more predator biomass, implying they are more stable. Using replicated experiments across streams of different sizes and streams contracted due to lowered flows, we will investigate for the first time how reductions in the spatial extent of habitat influence food web stability.