In this 1995 report a number of different ways of measuring habitat fragmentation using map data of various sorts were explored. At the time habitat fragmentation was a major issue in Nature conservation planning and management, particularly in the lowlands of England. In some areas destruction and degradation was leading to increased habitat isolation; elsewhere a wide variety of new countryside initiatives were being proposed that were expected to lead to reduced isolation and linkage of existing sites. Simple measure of habitat isolation were needed at both site and landscape scales to provide: measures of the changes in fragmentation that were occurring; and context for studies of species movement through the countryside.
A printed copy of this old English Nature report is available from our Enquiry Service. Tel: 0845 600 3078 Email: enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk