TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing habitat connectivity in environmental impact assessment
T2 - a case-study in the UK context
AU - Kor, Laura
AU - O’Hickey, Ben
AU - Hanson, Matthew
AU - Coroi, Mihai
N1 - Funding Information:
The research presented was funded by Heathrow Airports Limited as part of the package of works for the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Heathrow Third Runway Expansion Project. LK is supported by a studentship awarded by the Natural Environment Research Council [Grant Number NE/S007229/1]. We are very grateful to all ecologists and environmentalists involved with the Heathrow Expansion Project who made this research possible. In particular, the field surveyors, species leads, EIA coordinators, and GIS specialists who shared their expertise, time, and data. We are particularly thankful to Tom Graham for his GIS support and Max Heaver for insightful comments on the draft text.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Ecological connectivity across landscapes is vital for the maintenance of biodiversity and the processes that enable life on earth. Despite this, environmental planning decisions are usually made at the scale of individual projects, failing to account for landscape-scale impacts. Incorporating habitat connectivity analysis in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) could provide an opportunity to address this gap. We present a novel approach to model habitat connectivity in an EIA undertaken for the Heathrow Third Runway Expansion Project, a proposed development in south-east England. Drawing on field data, remote sensing, and species-specific literature reviews, a circuit theory approach was used to assess functional connectivity across the project landscape for grass snakes Natrix helvetica and soprano pipistrelles Pipistrellus pygmaeus. Results indicated key areas for species movement and potential ‘pinch-points’ vulnerable to development impacts. We discuss lessons learnt, potential applications to inform impact assessment, mitigation design, and biodiversity net gain approaches, and further work required to mainstream connectivity analyses in EIA and decision-making.
AB - Ecological connectivity across landscapes is vital for the maintenance of biodiversity and the processes that enable life on earth. Despite this, environmental planning decisions are usually made at the scale of individual projects, failing to account for landscape-scale impacts. Incorporating habitat connectivity analysis in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) could provide an opportunity to address this gap. We present a novel approach to model habitat connectivity in an EIA undertaken for the Heathrow Third Runway Expansion Project, a proposed development in south-east England. Drawing on field data, remote sensing, and species-specific literature reviews, a circuit theory approach was used to assess functional connectivity across the project landscape for grass snakes Natrix helvetica and soprano pipistrelles Pipistrellus pygmaeus. Results indicated key areas for species movement and potential ‘pinch-points’ vulnerable to development impacts. We discuss lessons learnt, potential applications to inform impact assessment, mitigation design, and biodiversity net gain approaches, and further work required to mainstream connectivity analyses in EIA and decision-making.
KW - biodiversity net gain
KW - circuitscape
KW - Ecological connectivity
KW - habitat fragmentation
KW - Natrix helvetica
KW - Pipistrellus pygmaeus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136102060&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14615517.2022.2128557
DO - 10.1080/14615517.2022.2128557
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85136102060
SN - 1461-5517
VL - 40
SP - 495
EP - 506
JO - Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal
JF - Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal
IS - 6
ER -