Integrating green infrastructure and ecological corridors: A study concerning the Metropolitan Area of Cagliari (Italy)

Green Infrastructure (GI) is defined as a network of natural and semi-natural areas that need to be planned in a strategic way to deliver ecosystem services (ESs). This definition highlights two important concepts: multifunctionality and connectivity. Multifunctionality concerns the capacity of a single area to deliver several benefits and to perform multiple functions. The concept of connectivity is often linked to ecological corridors (ECs), defined as spatial elements that connect habitats, allowing species migration and genetic exchange. Consequently, the spatial identification of GIs and ECs in spatial planning is a noteworthy topic. In this study, we propose a methodological approach to identify a multifunctional GI and ECs connecting Natura 2000 sites (N2Ss) in the case study of the Metropolitan City of Cagliari, Italy, in relation to three steps. The first, based on a previous work of Arcidiacono et al. (2016), concerns the spatial configuration of a multifunctional GI in relation to four aspects (conservation value, natural value, recreational value and anthropic heritage). The second step concerns the identification of potential ECs in relation to two concepts, habitat suitability and ecological integrity, integrated through a resistance map. The last step aims at assessing the likelihood of inclusion of the ECs, identified in the second step, within a metropolitan GI in relation to the taxonomy developed in the first step. In other words, we intend to assess if and to what extent the Natura 2000 network can be considered a part of a metropolitan GI.