Presentation by Katie McCausland (Costain & Reading University) at COMIT 2016: Digitally Building Britain, September 2016 More information: http://www.comit.org.uk/liveblog

1. 28th September 2016
By Katie McCausland

2. Project Specifications
• Examine future opportunities for improving the
sustainability of large infrastructure construction
projects in relation to carbon emissions and impacts
on biodiversity, ecosystem services, soils and water
quality and the wider environment.
• To use GIS to visualise areas of high ecosystem
sensitivity to aid in biodiversity offsetting, and to
identify local areas that would benefit from
restoration.
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3. Objectives
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1. To create an early planning tool that uses GIS and spatial
analysis tool to provide relevant information to the decision
making process.
2. To identify and build an ecological framework that accurately
and precisely identifies sensitive areas that may impact the
progress of a development project.
3. To experiment with visualisation techniques to find the optimal
way to present spatial data to planners and decision makers
during both pre-construction design and operational phases

4. Objective 1
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Creating the Tool

5. The aims of the tool
A 3-stage tool to assist with environmental impact
assessments by contributing the following information:
• Conservation Designations – Regulations and Restrictions
• Previously recorded EU Protected Species
• Habitat guidance – maintaining sustainable environments
Providing an effective method of visualisation
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6. The Data
• Natural England/Countryside Council for Wales
Conservation Designations
• Species Distributions from the National Biodiversity
Network
• Phase I (Wales) and Mastermap Land cover habitat data
• Literature
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7. Stage one…
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8. Stage 2…
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Lesser horseshoe Bat Lesser horseshoe Bat
Soprano Pipestrelle
Lesser horseshoe Bat
Soprano Pipestrelle
Noctule
Greater horseshoe Bat
Brown long eared Bat
Bechsteins Bat
Barbastelle Bat
Dormouse
Great Crested Newt
Smooth Snake
(more to be added)

9. Stage 2…
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10. Stage 2…
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11. Stage 2…
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12. Stage 2…
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13. Stage 3
• Let’s take the Lesser Horseshoe Bat and read some
papers…
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14. Stage 3…
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The stage 3 analysis of the landscape aggregates three
factors into a three digit code of “Distinctiveness”,
“Restoration Potential” and “Condition”. Using this
code, the end user will not only see “sensitive” areas,
but also understand why and how.

15. Stage 3
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These were then stacked upon each other giving one composite
value (Figure 3). Thus providing a quantification to inform planners
and decision makers. Only Habitats with a distinctiveness of
medium and high were analysed

16. Stage 3
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So a parcel of land
that as a score of
“321” has a high
distinctiveness, a
medium restoration
potential and low
condition

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Objective 2
Ecological Relevance

18. Landscape Analysis
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Mean Patch Area
Patch Density
Fragmentation
Connectivity
Amount of Edge
Shape Index
Largest Patch
Perimeter-Area
Ratio
Fragmentation has been selected as an indicator of potential
habitat loss.

19. Questions raised
Fragmentation is species specific…
• Weighting for habitat distinctiveness
• Weighting for species
• How easy can this species be displaced?
• How costly is displacement?
• How much surveying time is involved?
For example:
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> ?

20. Surveying the Experts
• Pilot survey completed at Landscape Ecology
Conference at the University of Reading.
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Objective 3
Visualisation

22. Future work
• Create an interface in order to upload Stages 1 and 2
• Explore 3D visualisation techniques
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23. Questions?
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