Utilizing the Transversal Connectivity Index (TCI) to assess the Existing and Potential Transversal Connectivity among Terrestrial and Aquatic Habitats across pan-European Functional Urban Areas

This study was presented in Poster pitch at the GfÖ24 Conference, organized by the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, between 9–13 September 2024.ABOUT | Connectivity between terrestrial and aquatic systems is a prerequisite of effective blue-green infrastructure (BGI). Anthropocentric human activities including the transportation network are the main reasons behind BGI fragmentation. Yet, identifying and mitigating this fragmentation is possible. In this study we aim to assess the current situation regarding BGI connectivity across European functional urban areas (FUA). Relying on Urban Atlas data and the transversal connectivity index (TCI) method we investigated existing and potential BGI connectivity among 569 non-coastal FUA from 35 European countries. Our results show that the average percentage of natural surfaces connected to at least one freshwater surface is 33%, where Luxemburg records the lowest (9%) and Norway the highest (91%). However, our best scenario analysis shows that the average potential BGI connectivity share rises to 79%, where more than one third of states record at least 90%. We found that the high TCI records do not necessarily correlate to high availability of natural, water or transportation surfaces. Our results suggest that planning of transportation network in a sensitive way towards BGI connectivity minimizes the adverse consequences of fragmentation. This study was conducted within my EU-funded (hashtag#MSCA, hashtag#EuroTechPostdoc2 program) project TransConnECT (https://lnkd.in/d2RByeXB).I am grateful to the co-authors, the host (Prof. Dr. rer. Nat. Juergen Geist, Technical University of Munich) and co-host (Assoc. Prof. Dr. Roland Löwe, DTU - Technical University of Denmark) of my project, TransConnECT. TransConnECT has received funding from the European Union’sHorizon 2020 research and innovation programme under theMarie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 899987, within the scope of hashtag#EuroTechPostDoc2 program of hashtag#EuroTech Universities Alliance.