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Landscape fragmentation Effective Mesh Density time-series, 2015: major and medium anthropogenic fragmenting elements (FGA2-S) - version 1.0, Nov. 2019

This dataset is the new version of the Effective Mesh Density (seff) 2016 dataset with improved input data, for the year 2015. This new dataset uses the Copernicus Imperviousness and the TomTom TeleAtlas datasets as fragmenting geometries.



The Effective Mesh Density (seff) is a measure of the degree to which movement between different parts of the landscape is interrupted by a Fragmentation Geometry (FG). FGs are defined as the presence of impervious surfaces and traffic infrastructure, including medium sized roads. The more FGs fragment the landscape, the higher the effective mesh density hence the higher the fragmentation. The geographic coverage of the dataset is EEA39.



An important consequence of landscape fragmentation is the increased isolation of ecosystem patches that breaks the structural connections and decreases resilience and ability of habitats to provide various ecosystem services. Fragmentation also influences human communities, agriculture, recreation and overall quality of life. Monitoring how fragmentation decreases landscape quality and changes the visual perception of landscapes provides information for policy measures that aim at improving ecosystem condition and restoration as well as maintaining the attractiveness of landscapes for recreational activities.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Publication)
2019-11-11
Date (Creation)
2019-10-07
Edition

01.00

Citation identifier
eea_r_3035_100_m_fga2-s-2015_p_2015-2016_v01_r00

Citation identifier
DAT-222-en

Spatial representation type
Grid

Spatial resolution

Spatial resolution
100 m
Topic category
  • Environment

Extent

N
S
E
W




Extent

Temporal extent

Time period
2015-01-01 2016-11-30
Maintenance and update frequency
Unknown
GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
  • Habitats and biotopes

  • Soil

  • Transport networks

GEMET
  • animal corridor

  • built-up area

  • animal habitat

  • built environment

  • landscape

Continents, countries, sea regions of the world.
  • EEA39

Spatial scope
  • European
Temporal resolution
  • Triennial

EEA Management Plan
  • 2019 1.8.4

EEA topics
  • Land use

  • Biodiversity

  • Agriculture and food

  • Forests and forestry

Resource constraints

Access constraints
Other restrictions
Other constraints
no limitations to public access

Resource constraints

Use constraints
Other restrictions
Other constraints

License CC-BY 4.0 ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Copyright holder: European Environment Agency (EEA).

Associated resource

Association Type
Cross reference
Metadata Reference
  • Landscape fragmentation Effective Mesh Density time-series, 2009: major and medium anthropogenic fragmenting elements (FGA2-S) - version 1.0, Nov. 2019

Associated resource

Association Type
Cross reference
Metadata Reference
  • Landscape fragmentation Effective Mesh Density time-series, 2012: major and medium anthropogenic fragmenting elements (FGA2-S) - version 1.0, Nov. 2019

Associated resource

Association Type
Revision Of
Metadata Reference
  • Landscape fragmentation Effective Mesh Density: major and medium anthropogenic fragmenting elements (FGA2-S) - version 2.0, Nov. 2016
Language
English

Distribution Information

Distribution format
  • GeoTIFF

OnLine resource

https://sdi.eea.europa.eu/webdav/datastore/public/eea_r_3035_100_m_fga2-s-2015_p_2015-2016_v01_r00/

OnLine resource

Direct download

OnLine resource

Protocol

ESRI:REST

OnLine resource

Protocol

OGC:WMS

OnLine resource

https://land.discomap.eea.europa.eu/arcgis/services/Fragmentation/Fragmentation_2015_mesh_density/ImageServer/WMSServer?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS

OnLine resource

https://land.discomap.eea.europa.eu/arcgis/rest/services/Fragmentation/Fragmentation_2015_mesh_density/ImageServer

Data quality info

Hierarchy level
Dataset

Report

Result

Title

Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services

Date (Publication)
2010-12-08
Explanation

See the referenced specification

Resource lineage

Statement

The meff index expresses the probability that any two points chosen randomly in an area are connected; that is, not separated by barriers of a Fragmentation Geometry (FG) such as transport routes or built-up areas. Hence, meff is a measure of landscape connectivity, i.e. the degree to which movements between different parts of the landscape are possible. The larger the meff, the more connected the landscape.



The seff value is calculated based on the Effective Mesh Size (meff) index, such as seff=1000 km2/meff. Hence seff is the number of meshes per 1000 km2.



The Copernicus High Resolution Layer - Imperviousness degree (30% of IMD) is the source layer for the build-up area. The TomTom TeleAtlas road network database is the source of the transport infrastructure. The original TeleAtlas dataset is hosted at ESTAT and is not publicly available. Multinet: https://www.adci.com/tomtom/gis/ ).



The line vectors are buffered according to the road class they represent, resulting in a polygon layer. Buffering is also applied to prevent small topological inconsistencies (e.g. gaps) in data. Buffers applied to the various Tele Atlas classes:

Tele Atlas road class Buffer size [m] Buffer width [m]

motorways, freeways 15 30

major roads less important than a motorway 10 20

other major roads 7,5 15

secondary roads 5 10

local connecting roads 2,5 5

railroads 2 4



Tunnels are excluded from the dataset.



The maping computation steps are:

1) selection of no build-up areas from the HRL imperviousness layer (no build-up areas represent "landscape", fragmented by build-up)

2) selection of transport routes relevant to the fragmentation geometry

3) deleting of tunnels from the transport routes

4) creating of buffers around the transport routes. A buffer size is dependent on the route class

6) erasing of the buffered routes from the "landscape", fragmented by build-up (created as step 1 result)

7) computation of meff values for each reference units



For a detailed methodology, please consult the "Landscape fragmentation in Europe" report

http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/landscape-fragmentation-in-europe

and

https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/mobility-and-urbanisation-pressure-on-ecosystems/assessment

and

https://forum.eionet.europa.eu/etc-urban-land-and-soil-systems/library/c1.-action-plan-2019/1.8.2.3-re-analysis-landscape-fragmentation-time-series/eea-core-set-indicator-landscape-fragmentation-pressure-urban-and-transport/index_html

Hierarchy level
Dataset
Source
  • Imperviousness Density 2015 (raster 100 m), Europe, 3-yearly, Marc. 2018

Reference System Information

Reference System Information

Code
EPSG:3035

Metadata

Metadata identifier
2e842c1e-d914-4533-8db0-039bfbaffaff

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Organisation Individual Electronic mail address Website Role

European Environment Agency

sdi@eea.europa.eu

Point of contact

Type of resource

Resource type
Dataset
Metadata linkage

https://sdi.eea.europa.eu/geonetwork/srv/api/records/2e842c1e-d914-4533-8db0-039bfbaffaff

Date info (Creation)
2019-12-02T10:06:55Z
Date info (Revision)
2025-10-09T10:43:28.680572Z

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115/19139

Edition

1.0

 
 
Access to the catalogue
Read here the full details and access to the data.

Overviews

Spatial extent

Keywords

EEA Management Plan

2019 1.8.4
EEA topics

Agriculture and food Biodiversity Forests and forestry Land use
GEMET

animal corridor animal habitat built environment built-up area landscape
GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

Habitats and biotopes Soil Transport networks
Spatial scope

European
Temporal resolution

Triennial


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Access to the catalogue
Read here the full details and access to the data.




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