Ecological Connectivity in Agricultural Green Infrastructure: Suggested Criteria for Fine Scale Assessment and Planning

Abstract

In promoting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service capacity, landscape connectivity is considered a critical feature to counteract the negative effects of fragmentation. Under a Green Infrastructure (GI) perspective, this is especially true in rural and peri-urban areas where a high degree of connectivity may be associated with the enhancement of agriculture multifunctionality and sustainability. With respect to GI planning and connectivity assessment, the role of dispersal traits of tree species is gaining increasing attention. However, little evidence is available on how to select plant species to be primarily favored, as well as on the role of landscape heterogeneity and habitat quality in driving the dispersal success. The present work is aimed at suggesting a methodological approach for addressing these knowledge gaps, at fine scales and for peri-urban agricultural landscapes, by means of a case study in the Metropolitan City of Rome. The study area was stratified into Environmental Units, each supporting a unique type of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV), and a multi-step procedure was designed for setting priorities aimed at enhancing connectivity. First, GI components were defined based on the selection of the target species to be supported, on a fine scale land cover mapping and on the assessment of land cover type naturalness. Second, the study area was characterized by a Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and connectivity was assessed by Number of Components (NC) and functional connectivity metrics. Third, conservation and restoration measures have been prioritized and statistically validated. Notwithstanding the recognized limits, the approach proved to be functional in the considered context and at the adopted level of detail. Therefore, it could give useful methodological hints for the requalification of transitional urban–rural areas and for the achievement of related sustainable development goals in metropolitan regions.

On the Role of Natural and Induced Landscape Heterogeneity for the Support of Pollinators: A Green Infrastructure Perspective Applied in a Peri-Urban System

“…Indeed, in agricultural matrices but also in the urban and peri-urban ones, the detection of these elements is gaining increasing importance as key landscape structures and functional ecological corridors [108,109]. Besides the need for an accurate and consistent spatial representation, still calling for a visual interpretation at fine scales in GI planning [110], the present research also confirms the importance of the typological characterization of linear elements for assessing their condition, functional connectivity and ecosystem service capacity [111,112]. Such a characterization enabled the comprehension of habitat value for pollinator support to be refined with respect to more general assumptions, just based upon quantitative aspects and usually adopted for coarse-scale modelling of the pollination service [113].…”

Interactive Effects of Ecological Land Agglomeration and Habitat Quality on Soil Erosion in the Jinsha River Basin, China

“…This study preliminarily explores the specific influence mechanisms of comprehensive ecological land agglomeration and habitat quality on soil erosion. Based on this exploration, planners can mitigate the regional soil erosion phenomenon by calculating several indicators of ecological land agglomeration and proposing habitat quality optimization strategies from the perspective of landscape patterns [53]. The composition and distribution of GI should be enhanced as much as possible to ensure their integrity and provision of comprehensive ecosystem services.…”

“…The composition and distribution of GI should be enhanced as much as possible to ensure their integrity and provision of comprehensive ecosystem services. Specifically, the GI network of the district can be optimized by supplementing the center of the GI network, installing additional small sites, and identifying potential ecological corridors to improve the integrity, so that it covers the entire district and ensures that the regional ecosystem service function is performed [53].…”

The evaluation of agroforestry development in marginal land area of Gunungkidul, Indonesia

“…After the age of 3 years, the teak stands are dense enough, so that it is no longer possible to plant crops that are not shaded tolerant. The complementarity of resources capture by trees and crops in agroforestry systems is a major factor that improves productivity [10,11], because the competition for resources is a major factor that limits the productivity of and revenue from agroforestry systems, the competition for resources between trees and crops has attracted the attention of researchers [11][12][13]. This competition between crops and trees includes competition between aboveground and belowground parts in an agroforestry system [14].…”