Functional Connectivity of Naturally Valuable Habitats in the Jeseníky Protected Landscape Area

Abstract This paper focuses on evaluating the functional connectivity of naturally valuable habitats within the territory of the Jeseníky Protected Landscape Area (PLA). Analysis of functional connectivity was carried out for individual zones of classified nature preservation. The methodological approach that is applied is based on determining indicators for expressing the degree of the natural character of individual landscape segments (Nd), the distance to naturally valuable habitats (Dn), and a composite index Distance to Nature (D2N). The results for the individual zones and the PLA as a whole are mutually compared and consequently confronted with values for the territory of the entire Czech Republic. All three research questions, i.e. whether naturally valuable habitats prevail in the most valuable area in the first protected zone of the Jeseníky PLA, whether the distance to naturally valuable habitats in the first zone of the Jeseníky PLA is the shortest, and whether the territory of the Jeseníky PLA is better functionally interlinked when compared with the remaining territory of the Czech Republic (CR), were answered positively. The results highlight the need to assess the connectivity of natural habitats in the least protected zones of other PLAs in the Czech Republic and EU, to decide whether planning measures to support the ecological network are necessary.