Ecological Assessment for Spatial Planning: The Case of Southern Tuscany, Italy

ABSTRACT

The study concerns a methodology of assessment that aims to detect the prior objectives relative to nature conservation in an extended area.of Tuscany in Italy. In particular, we designed a model to assess ecological value (EV) and ecological sensitivity (ES) that together define the hotspots of ecological attention (HEA) areas; we design a model to assess anthropic pressure (disturbance) (AP), which together with ecological sensitivity define the hotspots of ecological fragility (vulnerability) (HEF) areas. The results of the work confirm the robust-ness of the method and its application in the scope of extended area planning and environmental assessment.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental assessment
• habitat biodiversity
• CORINE biotopes
• hotspot
• multidimensional ranking
• conservation policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).