AESME Lot 9: What is the impact of AES on the quality of ecological connectivity?

The aim of this project is to assess the extent to which agri-environment schemes effect quality within ecological networks.

The specific objectives of this project are to: 1. Revise the relationships between options, habitats and mobile species in terms of functional connectivity, building on the findings of previous projects LM04100 and LM0448. 2. Identify suitable study areas and focal species and construct a land cover spatial dataset to support connectivity modelling and field survey work. 3. Develop and agree survey protocols and undertake field surveys to assess habitat quality in relation to focal species connectivity and AES option implementation. 4. Test the connectivity modelling assumptions from LM04100 to identify methodological improvements. 5. Calculate connectivity metrics for different landscape scenarios and make comparisons with field-based cost layers.

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