Overlay of the Natura 2000 network with fragmentation geometry FG-A2 'Major and medium anthropogenic fragmentation', showing Spain and Portugal as an example

The objective of this task is calculate “effective mesh size” as indicator of landscape fragmentation. Effective mesh size (Meff) is proportional to the probability of two points chosen randomly in region being connected. This probability is then converted into the size of a patch – the effective mesh size. The unit of Meff is that of area (e.g. Ha). This area corresponds to the size of “meshes” of  regular network that has the same degree of fragmentation and it can be compared with the values of Meff from other regions. The smaller the effective mesh size, the more fragmented the landscape.