Different maps to describe how species perceive the landscape

Here below (test masp) and in the Map Portal (here) you can view maps illustrating how a species perceives the landscape with respect to resources, topography, climate, human disturbance, corridors. For reindeer see specfic website here.

Maps can be grouped into Pixel-focussed maps and Green Infrastructure maps (focussed on the entire Ecological Network). Pixel-focussed maps are still among the most commonly used by ecologists and land managers, and describe the characteristics of each 100x100m pixel, in isolation, in terms of habitat suitability and friction to movements. Green Infrastructure maps, or, Network-based maps, allow to take a "bird-eye view", and highlight the importance of each area for the entire ecological network. These innovative, network-based maps describe the species' Ecological Network, or Green Infrastructure. They are built using powerful algorithms identifying all paths connecting each pixel to all other pixels in the landscape, weighed by habitat suitability, landscape friction, and species' dispersal abilities. In other words, it is as if we immagined the species walking across the entire landscape, and hihglighted the most likely corridors and funcional areas (of good quality and well connected). 

Both types of maps (see map portal) can be used for land planning: habitat quality maps can be used if the goal is to protect all suitable habitat patches, with no need for prioritization; network-based maps are needed if the goal is to identify the most important core areas and movement corridors, and highlight pixels that are most crucial to be prioritized to maintain the functionality of the enrire Ecological Network.

Understanding differences among maps requires a bit of training, but it is crucial to take adequate land-planning decisions. MODULE 1 and 2 are designed to help you interpreting the meaning of these maps.

Pixel-focussed maps

Describe the characteristics of each 100 m pixel in isolation, but ignore the ecological network of which it is part.

Note: repeating the analyses for larger areas would not affect local results, as the results are pixel-focussed

HABITAT QUALITY / SUITABILITY MAP: 

Greener pixels provide more suitable resources (e.g. preferred vegetation, topographic and & climatic conditions); lighter pixels indicate resources the species tend to avoid (e.g. poor food availability, human disturbance). Greener pixels can indicate also isolated patches (island) of suitable habitat

HABITAT PERMEABILITY MAP: 

Darkest pixels represent impermeable barriers for the species' movements (e.g. fences, steep slopes, infrastructures); lighter pixels can be easily traversed by the species

 

Network-based maps (Green Infrastructures)

Focus on connectivity in the entire landscape. Highlight the most important areas & help prioritizing areas for conservation and restoration 

Note: results refer to the area shown, and would change in larger / smaller areas. Models are built on areas larger than the area shown to avoid edge effects

HABITAT FUNCTIONALITY MAP: 

Greener pixels higlight the core, most functional areas in Oslo Municipality, or, areas that simultaneously provide good quality resources and are well connected to other good quality areas. Darker areas are unsuitable / isolated/ poorly accessible. These innovative maps better represent the most important areas compared to habitat quality maps, and can be used for prioritizing

MOVEMENT CORRIDORS MAP: 

Lighter colors indicate the most crucial corridors and bottle necks, or, areas traversed by a higher number of individuals moving between functional areas

SENSITIVITY MAP: 

This map [under development in GreenPlan - the map shown is a placeholder] hihglights areas that are most sensitive to perturbation, or, areas where perturbations (e.g. land degradation) could have the largest consequences for the entire ecological network.