  Lindstr\"om theorems characterize logics in terms of model-theoretic
conditions such as Compactness and the L\"owenheim-Skolem property. Most
existing characterizations of this kind concern extensions of first-order
logic. But on the other hand, many logics relevant to computer science are
fragments or extensions of fragments of first-order logic, e.g., k-variable
logics and various modal logics. Finding Lindstr\"om theorems for these
languages can be challenging, as most known techniques rely on coding arguments
that seem to require the full expressive power of first-order logic. In this
paper, we provide Lindstr\"om theorems for several fragments of first-order
logic, including the k-variable fragments for k>2, Tarski's relation algebra,
graded modal logic, and the binary guarded fragment. We use two different proof
techniques. One is a modification of the original Lindstr\"om proof. The other
involves the modal concepts of bisimulation, tree unraveling, and finite depth.
Our results also imply semantic preservation theorems.
