Spatial analysis of selected biodiversity features in protected areas: a case study in Tuscany region

The development of strategies for biodiversity analysis is critical at several levels, particularly at the national one. The World Conference on Biological Diversity held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the European Natura 2000 network and the Environmental Conference of the Regions of Europe (EN.CO.RE) brought forward several measures aiming at the preservation of Biodiversity. Targets for biodiversity preservation include protected areas among others. Accordingly, the analysis of the degree of biodiversity of protected areas proves to be a valid tool to evaluate the effectiveness of those measures. The present manuscript analyses the degree of some relevant features of biodiversity in the Region of Tuscany, through the implementation of multidimensional indicators in a Spatial MultiCriteria Analysis. After a state of the art of biodiversity definition, four indicators have been used for the analysis. A raster map in which pixels have higher or lower values of biodiversity was produced in order to investigate which of these values might be located in protected areas. Protected areas with high value of biodiversity confirmed that the adopted environmental policies are positively related to the conservation of biodiversity. The result of the analysis, corroborated through auto-correlational statistical analysis, has highlighted the important role of protected areas in maintaining a certain degree of biodiversity.