Assessing landscape fragmentation in Sardinia (Italy): A Comparative Analysis

Landscape fragmentation (LF) is a process where natural and semi-natural habitats tend to divide into several smaller separate fragments. LF is largely caused by roads and railways, as well as urbanized areas. Notable effects of LF consist of isolation of animal and plant species, reduction of biodiversity and loss of connectivity between habitats. Several indicators for measuring LF are available in literature. In this paper we consider the Infrastructural Fragmentation Index (IFI), which measures LF due to transport and mobility infrastructure and the Rural Buildings Fragmentation Index (RBFI), which assess LF due to rural buildings. Previous studies did not investigate if the metrics are correlated to each other, and we aim at filling up such a research gap. We apply the metrics in six landscape units in Sardinia (Italy). We found highest LF in the coastal areas according to both IFI and RBFI, which appear to be moderately correlated to each other. The findings can be used by planners to design defragmentation measures.