Habitat Connectivity Trends: Calculation, Modelling and Assessment

A range of indices are available to calculate terrestrial habitat connectivity based on land-use/land- cover data. Two tools (Graphab and MiraMon) were used to create timeseries datasets (1987-2022) and build the pipeline to analyse trends in connectivity. Data4Land tool was developed to enrich LULC datasets with OpenStreetMap data. Habitat connectivity indices of forest-dwelling mammals and target species (Testudo hermanni) for Catalonia (Spain) were produced. In contrast to shrublands and meadows, forest connectivity mainly follows a positive trend, but considerable spatial differences are observed between Barcelona, protected areas and Pyrenees. The developed workflow supports decision-making and trade-offs between stakeholders in spatial planning.