Spatial features of a regional green infrastructure and identification of ecological corridors: A study related to Sardinia

Federica Isola;Sabrina Lai;Federica Leone;Corrado Zoppi

2022-01-01

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Abstract

This study aims at assessing the relationship between the spatial framework of the characteristics of a regional green infrastructure and the ecological corridors of a regional network of protected areas. The spatial layout of the regional infra-structure is identified based on the potential supply of seven ecosystem services (intrinsic value of biodiversity, habitat quality, nature-based recreation potential, agricultural and forestry value, regulation of land surface temperature, and carbon storage and sequestration). The ecological corridors are detected through a meth-odological approach which builds on resistance-based models. The maps of the regional green infrastructure characteristics and of the ecological corridors are overlaid and their correlations are assessed through a regression model. Such methodological approach is applied into the spatial context of the Sardinia Re-gion. Finally, relevant planning implications concerning the implementation of planning policies to improve the effectiveness of the regional network of protect-ed areas through the enhancement of the features related to the regional green in-frastructure are proposed and discussed, as well as the exportability of the meth-odological approach.