Conservation status of vegetation in the North and Central area of Pardiela riv...

• Autor(es): Batista, Teresa ; Cavaco, Joana ; Mendes, Paula ; Vila-Viçosa, Carlos ; Penas, Ángel ; del-Río, Sara ; Cabezas, José ; Fernández-Pozo, Luis ; Arancibia, Natália ; Pinto-Gomes, Carlos
• Data: 2012
• Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10174/7342
• Origem: Repositório Científico da Universidade de Évora
• Assunto(s): biodiversity conservation; ecological assessment; mapping; phytosociology; potential vegetation; Potentiality Distance Index
• Tipo de Documento: Artigo
• Idioma: Inglês

Descrição

Pardiela’s stream watershed was selected for a preliminary test of an ecological assessment through the application of the Potentiality Distance Index (PDI) methodology, based on current and potential vegetation maps. This analysis reveals the distance of a given vegetation community from its optimal potential state (climax) and the final PDI values portray the conservation status of the territory and allow the sketching of its needs for recovery or protection. Hence, territory management policies can subsequently be adjusted for better land use and biodiversity conservation. For this reason, this methodology can be an important step for landscape planning because it allows the adjustment of development proposals and activity monitoring. The final PDI value for the study area is 0.2509, indicating that Pardiela’s basin conservation status is moderate.