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Environmental information systems
Landscape fragmentation status and trends, 2009-2015: affected lands
Chart (static)
Note:
Fragmentation as a result of urban and transport infrastructure expansion is monitored using the Copernicus imperviousness and the TeleAtlas road network data sets.
Downloads
Data sources
Metadata
More info
- Copernicus Land Monitoring Service - High Resolution Layers - Imperviousness, European Environment Agency (EEA)
- Albania
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
2009-2015
Methodology:
The Effective Mesh Density (seff) is a measure of the degree to which movement between different parts of the landscape is interrupted by a Fragmentation Geometry (FG). FGs are defined as the presence of impervious surfaces and traffic infrastructure, focusing only on major roads. The more FGs fragment the landscape, the higher the effective mesh density hence the higher the fragmentation. The geographic coverage of the dataset is EEA39.
An important consequence of landscape fragmentation is the increased isolation of ecosystem patches that breaks the structural connections and decreases resilience and ability of habitats to provide various ecosystem services. Fragmentation also influences human communities, agriculture, recreation and overall quality of life. Monitoring how fragmentation decreases landscape quality and changes the visual perception of landscapes provides information for policy measures that aim at improving ecosystem condition and restoration as well as maintaining the attractiveness of landscapes for recreational activities.
Additional information:
EEA28 coverge is wihtout Romania due to poos TEelAtlas data coverage in 2009.
EEA39 coverage excludes Cyprus, Iceland, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Cyprus, R. Macedonia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey due to poor data coverage of fragmentation geometries in 2009.
Units:
seff, km2 and %