A multi-scale qualitative approach to assess the impact of urbanization on natural habitats and their connectivity |
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| Institution: | 1. The Nature Conservancy, Texas, 3801 Kirby Drive, Suite 740, Houston, TX 77098, United States of America;2. 16201 Gordon Cummings Road, Canyon, TX 79015, United States of America;3. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W 24th Street, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America;4. School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin, 310 Inner Campus Drive, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America;5. LBJ School of Public Affairs, 2315 Red River Street, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America;6. Central Texas Melittological Institute, 7307 Running Rope, Austin, TX 78731, United States of America;7. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W 24th Street, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America;1. University of South Florida, St. Petersburg Campus, Department of Integrative Biology, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA;2. University of Brasília, Institute of Biological Sciences, 70919-970 Brasilia, DF, Brazil;3. Catholic University of Brasilia, Campus Taguatinga, 71966-700 Brasilia, DF, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Habitat loss and fragmentation are often concurrent to land conversion and urbanization. Simple application of GIS-based landscape pattern indicators may be not sufficient to support meaningful biodiversity impact assessment. A review of the literature reveals that habitat definition and habitat fragmentation are frequently inadequately considered in environmental assessment, notwithstanding the increasing number of tools and approaches reported in the landscape ecology literature.This paper presents an approach for assessing impacts on habitats on a local scale, where availability of species data is often limited, developed for an alpine valley in northern Italy. The perspective of the methodology is multiple scale and species-oriented, and provides both qualitative and quantitative definitions of impact significance. A qualitative decision model is used to assess ecological values in order to support land-use decisions at the local level. Building on recent studies in the same region, the methodology integrates various approaches, such as landscape graphs, object-oriented rule-based habitat assessment and expert knowledge.The results provide insights into future habitat loss and fragmentation caused by land-use changes, and aim at supporting decision-making in planning and suggesting possible ecological compensation. |
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