Identifying a green infrastructure to prioritise areas for restoration to enhance the landscape connectivity and the provision of ecosystem services

Abstract

IntroductionHabitat fragmentation is one of the major causes of the loss of biodiversity that our planet is experiencing. This has affected the ecosystems functioning and, consequently, the provision of ecosystem services (ES). Therefore, the European Commission, in a 2013 communication, established the concept of Green Infrastructure (GI), which is a strategically planned network of multifunctional areas with the aim of protecting biodiversity and ES supply, as well as improving ecological connectivity. Ecological restoration is an essential element to achieve the objectives of the GI, which if well targeted, could reverse widespread ecosystem degradation and improve landscape connectivity.ObjectiveIn this study, we propose a methodology to prioritise areas to restore by identifying a GI in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve (UBR), in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, where forest plantations of exotic species abound.MethodsIn order to identify the elements of the GI (core areas and corridors) we integrated a multispecies approach based on the movement of key species and an ES-based approach based on multifunctionality. Subsequently, to prioritise areas to restore we identified sectors in the GI, where connectivity is particularly vulnerable (pinch points) using the circuit theory. Thus, forest plantations around the pinch points were prioritised for a future restoration plans depending on their aim: (1) Improve corridors of high importance and low quality for the multispecies approach (2) Improve corridors of high importance and low quality for the ES-based approach, and (3) Improve the connectivity of the GI for the species movement.ResultsThe resultant GI included 36% of the UBR surface. We identified 34 pinch points for the corridors of the three especies in the multispecies approach and 64 in the ES-based approach. We prioritised 149 ha of exotic forest plantations around the pinch points to convert into native forest in order to improve the corridors and 167 ha to improve GI connectivity.ConclusionThis information could be useful for organizations and institutions carrying out restoration actions for the recovering of native forests in the territory.