Abstract
Landscape fragmentation (LF) is the process where habitat patches tend to become smaller and more isolated over time. It is mainly due to human activities and affects habitats, biodiversity, ecosystem balance, and ecological networks. Transport and mobility infrastructures and urbanized areas—also in the form of suburban and rural sprawl—contribute to LF and can be localized close to (or included in) Natura 2000 sites (N2000 sites). N2000 sites are set according to the Habitats and Birds Directives and consist of special protection areas, sites of community importance, and special areas of conservation, where LF may threaten habitat quality and species survival and dispersal. Then, new rules and planning approaches are called for defining effective protection measures. The knowledge of the context appears to be a priority to achieve such aims. Therefore, this study focuses on LF in N2000 sites. We apply the rural buildings fragmentation index (RBFI) and the effective mesh density (Seff) in six landscape units in Sardinia (Italy). Then, we report on the least and the most fragmented N2000 sites and assess if there is correlation between RBFI and Seff. In this study, RBFI and Seff provide not trivial outcomes, as they are weakly and positively correlated.
Highlights
Human actions are acknowledged as major drivers affecting landscape quality
We reported on the main scientific studies concerning Landscape fragmentation (LF) in N2000 sites and habitat loss caused by rural buildings, metrics and data and software used, and the characteristics of the study areas
The highest values of rural buildings fragmentation index (RBFI) were measured in N2000 sites of Piana del Riu Mannu di Ozieri, while the rural buildings did not contribute to LF in N2000 sites in Flumendosa-Sarcidano-Araxisi
Summary
Human actions are acknowledged as major drivers affecting landscape quality. Deforestation, transport and mobility infrastructures (TMIs), and land conversion for agricultural, industrial, and urban uses influence habitat quality, ecosystems balance, and biodiversity [1,2]. Harmful effects include landscape fragmentation (LF)—i.e., the process where habitat patches tend to become smaller and more isolated [1]. LF characterizes urbanized contexts, where TMIs [1,3,4] and urban settlement [5] trigger habitat loss and contribute in reducing size and isolating habitat patches. Ecological networks are affected by urbanized areas [7,8], in that buildings and TMIs are elements that contribute to soil consumption or, in other terms, to natural habitat (con-)diversion for human uses
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