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Environmental Impact Assessment Review

20 (2000) 665–680
www.elsevier.com/locate/eiar

EIA procedure
Landscape ecology and conservation
management—Evaluation of alternatives
in a highway EIA process
João P. Fernandes*
Dept de Planeamento Biofisico e Paisagisico, Colegio Luis Antonio Verney, University of
Évora, 7001-671, Évora, Portugal
Received 1 July 1999; received in revised form 1 January 2000; accepted 1 April 2000

Abstract
The use of an Integrated Landscape Ecological Approach on the evaluation of the
impact of a proposed highway over a high sensitive habitat of the highly endangered
Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardina L) is described. This method prevents the occurrence
of common errors in the decision making process by allowing an increased knowl-
edge of the ecological constraints of the project. It builds, consequently, a very
powerful tool for nature conservation assessment and for the ecological evaluation
and the decision process in situations of low ecological data availability. The conflict
of arguments on the consistency of the conclusions of the method is also de-
scribed.  2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Landscape ecological approach; Environmental impact assessment; Lynx pardina L.;
Habitat assessment; Functional assessment of landscapes; Nature conservation

1. Introduction
The lack of information on the biology, ecology, or the present distribu-
tion of a target species or a target group of species is, in many cases, the
main argument for the Type II Error in decision making: not doing, because
the probability of an irreversible disturbance or other impact is unknown
(Schrader-Frechette and McCoy, 1993).1 Landscape Ecology (LE) can con-

* Tel.: ⫹351 2 66 745333.

E-mail address: jpaf@ip.pt (J.P. Fernandes).
1
This is called the Preventive Principle by opposition to the Type I Error: doing despite
the uncertainty of an irreversible disturbance or impact, which is also called the “producer’s
risk” by opposition to the Type II Error, the “consumer’s risk” (Schrader-Frechette and
McCoy, 1993, pp 155).
0195-9255/00/$ – see front matter  2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
PII: S0195-9255(00)00060-3
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666 J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680

tribute to the reduction of these problems through its structural/functional

approach to the landscape, where the focus of the study is not the animal
or the plant, but their habitats as well as their functional relations within
their ecological niche, considered from the point-of-view of the structural
organisation of the landscape.
This paper describes how, within an Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) Process of a highway running through a highly sensitive ecological
area, the Integrated Landscape Ecological Analysis (ILA) produces an
evaluation and prediction of the target species ecology, allowing a compara-
tive evaluation of alternatives without the bias of prejudgments over “less
negative” alternatives.

2. Project description
The project objective of the EIA process considers the construction, in
the short term (2000–2001), of a highway between Lisbon (the capital) and
Algarve (the southern part of Portugal). This project is inserted in the
Portuguese National Road Program and aims to reduce the high driver
mortality rate of the current main road to Algarve and improve the accessi-
bility to the Algarve, a large tourist area with secondary residences.2 This
program has been almost entirely designed according to economical/traffic
management criteria and has had no previous environmental evaluation.
This paper considers the EIA of the projected highway section crossing
the chain of mountains that separate the Algarve from the rest of the
country and should be located approximately 50 km eastward from the
present main access road that, together with the railway, follows a valley
through a natural geological fault. This chain of mountains, together with
the connecting northeastern chains along the coast, constitute the main
habitat for the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardina, Linaeus) in Portugal, and
shelters one of the unique remaining large populations of the whole Iberian
Peninsula. This is the only region in the world where this species occurs.
Since the beginning of the EIA Process, the ecological NGOs were
unanimous in considering that “given the existence of one disturbance
corridor across the mountains, building a second one would multiply the
risks of survival of the species, due to the increase in the fragmentation
and disturbance of its habitat.” This argument was not founded in any kind
of studies but only in the biased preposition that “one evil is better than
two.” The project did not consider an alternative corridor for the crossing
of the mountain chain. It did not even include the hypothesis defended by

2
This characteristic of Algarve contributes to the production of a characteristic seasonal
traffic pattern with peaks of high intensive movement and sinistrality (during the Summer
and on Holidays). These would change with the new highway to a more intensive pattern on
the weekends due to a more intensive use of the secondary residences by the inhabitants of
the Lisbon area.
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J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680 667

the ecological NGOs, which stated the use of the existing corridor along
the existent road and railway.

3. The evaluation procedure

3.1. The methodology
Given the lack of information on the present distribution of the re-
maining populations of Lynx in the mountains and the unavailability of
the census data (since research was being developed simultaneously by the
National Institute for Nature Conservation (ICN) and the collected data
was still classified), an Integrated Landscape Ecological Analysis (ILA)
was implemented along with a more classical ecological approach: the
consideration of the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) of the rabbit (Oryctola-
gus cuniculus) (which constitutes the main and almost single source of food
for the Lynx).
The Integrated Landscape Ecological Analysis (ILA) allows an assess-
ment of the comparative global costs of different land use structures and
conservation strategies. This approach is based on the consideration that
each site is determined at a given moment by two sets of factors:
• The biophysical characteristics of the site and its relative stability
(Table 1)
• The pattern of present and past disturbances of the site (Table 2)
The convolution of these two sets of site determinant factors implies
that if we want to understand the landscape and develop methods for its
sustainable management, we have to understand the way in which these
factors affect that given site and all the surrounding or influencing sites.
Furthermore, there is a need to consider the way in which the present
status of the site expresses the intensity or the degree (or the energy) of
disturbance in relation to the more metastable states (the so-called climax
or para-climaxical states in the classical paradigm of ecology).
In order to identify these sets of influences, an integrated methodology
has to be adopted and implemented (Fig. 1). In practice, each resource land
unit (or landscape unit if determined only by the geological, morphological,
climatological, and pedological spatial patterns) can be characterised by
two vectors, the first representing the span of variation of each environmen-
tal factor, and the second the different functions of affectation of those
factors (Table 3). A third characterisation data set is included, which repre-
sents the functional links, the similarity, and the permeability of borders
of adjacent land units, allowing the identification of continuity and comple-
mentarity functions at a regional level.
By combining the present land use with the landscape units we are able
to obtain an integrated land use characterisation map where the units are
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668 J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680

Table 1
Type of influence of each environmental factor on the nature of the landscape
Geology Static action, building a framework for the other factors and processes
in the landscape (forms, resources reserves, and availability). Very
stable to disturbance.
Climate Stable action, building a framework for landscape processes, is affected
by circumstantial factors in terms of the intensity of the local features
of its regional patterns (microclimatology). Resilient to local and
regional disturbances. The microclimatological patterns express
stable patterns of response to the local factors of influence.
Landform Stable action with a dynamic influence pattern on the evolution
tendency of the horizontal evolution of a site—the influence on the
evolution of the site shows an intensity that is circumstantially
determined. This pattern of influence on the site dynamics is
independent from the disturbance types.
Soils Stable in their pattern of distribution, circumstantial in their
characteristics and patterns of influence of the local dynamic. Low
resilience to disturbance.
Hydrology Stable pattern of spatial organization and interrelation, within the
climatic contingencies that determine the intensity and frequency of their
processes. Very stable pattern of response to disturbance.
Vegetation Circumstantial pattern of spatial distribution. Determines and controls
the intensity of the spatial dynamic processes with little capacity to
influence their spatial occurrence pattern. Circumstantial pattern of
response to disturbance. Variable resilience depending on the character
and stability of the community.
Land use Circumstantial distribution. Controls the intensity of the different
dynamic processes in the landscape. Determines important changes in
the spatial occurrence and distribution of patterns and processes.
Disturbance factor.
Remark: This analysis of the pattern of influence of the environmental factors on the
nature of a landscape is referred to a middle term temporal scale in land use planning
and management terms.

characterised by a common “stable” and “circumstantial” characterisation

set. This characterisation set can also be displayed in a vector and matrix
form, displaying the resulting degree of availability of each environmental
factor as well as the resulting affectation functions (Table 4). In this way,
it is possible to evaluate the reversibility or irreversibility relationships,
and the positive or negative sustainability of each land use in each landscape
unit. In the same way, the regional functional matrices allow the identifica-
tion of the creation/destruction of connectivity paths, complementarity be-
tween land units, and variation on the degree of fragmentation.
This characterisation approach of a sinecological character must be com-
plemented by an autoecological characterisation of target species, groups
of species, and habitats. Such a characterisation identifies the optimum
curves for each species/group of species or habitats and allows the identifi-
cation of the degree of fulfillment of the ecological optimum by the prevail-
ing condition in each land unit. Such information allows the evaluation of
the degree of stress that a given target species is supporting in its present
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J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680 669

Table 2
Definition of Disturbance Regime Descriptors (White e Pickett, 1985 p. 7)
Descriptora Definition
Distribution Spatial distribution, including relationships to geographic,
topographic, environmental, and community gradients
Frequency Mean number of events per time period; frequency is
often used for probability of disturbance when
expressed as decimal fractions of events per year
Return interval, cycle, The inverse of frequency; mean time between
of turnover time disturbances
Rotation period Mean time needed to disturb an area equivalent to the
study area (the study area is arbitrarily defined; some
sites may be disturbed several times in this period and
others not at all—thus, “study area” must be
explicitly defined)
Predictability A scaled inverse fraction of variance of the return interval
Area or size Area disturbed; this can be expressed as area per event,
area per time period, area per event per time period,
or total area per disturbance type per time period;
frequently given as a percentage of total available area
Magnitude intensity Physical force of the event per area per time (e.g., heat
released per area per time period for fire and windspeed
for hurricanes)
Severity Impact on the organism, community, or ecosystem (e.g.,
basal area removed)
Synergism Effects on the occurrence of other disturbances (e.g.,
drought increases fire intensities and insect damage
increases susceptibility to windstorm)
a
For a given disturbance descriptor, measures of central tendency and dispersion, as
well as frequency distribution, are of interest.

habitat and the evaluation of its resilience relative to external disturbance

such as land use changes or natural environmental oscillations. This infor-
mation is of the utmost importance, since the minimum viable population
for a given species varies with the degree of stress it presently undertakes:
the more intense the stress (distance from the optimum), the larger the
possibility that a small variation of the environment will induce an intolera-
ble situation for the survival of the species if the population is not sufficiently
large to successfully withstand that disturbance and remain viable.
This entire analysis was only based in the structural and functional
analysis of the region conveniently adapting the criteria of Forman and
Godron [2] to consider the diversity of functions of the studied landscapes
(Table 5).

3.2. The Iberian Lynx

This approach and the consideration of the data and information on the
biology and the distribution of the Lynx in Spain (only source of new genes
for the renewal of the Portuguese population’s gene pool) allowed a first
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670 J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680

Fig. 1. Schematic sketch of the adopted methodological approach.

description of the potential habitats of this species in southern Portugal

and the potential linking paths of these habitats with the remaining Span-
ish populations.
According to Rodriguez and Delibes [3], the Lynx presently lives in
mountain areas, except in Doñana (Southwestern Spain in the estuary of

Table 3
Resource land units characterized by vector and functional links
Variation Affectation Regional Surrounding land units
span functions functions
1 2 3 … n
⌬a f(a) f(a) f(a,1) f(a,2) f(a,3) … f(a,n)
⌬b f(b) f(b) f(b,1) f(b,2) f(b,3) … f(b,n)
⌬c f(c) f(c) f(c,1) f(c,2) f(c,3) … f(c,n)
… … … … … … … …
⌬n f(n) f(n) f(n,n) f(n,n) f(n,n) f(n,n)
⌬ indicates variation span of the environmental variable x; f, affectation functions of the
environmental variable x.
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J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680 671

Table 4
Characterisation set in vector and matrix form of a disturbed landscape
Degree of Affectation Regional Surrounding land units
availability functions functions
1 2 3 … n
␦a⬘ f(a⬘) ␦a″ f(a″) f(a⬘) f(a⬘,1)⬘ f(a⬘,2)⬘ f(a⬘,3)⬘ … f(a⬘,n)⬘
␦b⬘ f(b⬘) ␦b″ f(b″) f(b⬘) f(b⬘,1)⬘ f(b⬘,2) f(b⬘,3)⬘ … f(b⬘,n)⬘
␦c⬘ f(c⬘) ␦c″ f(c″) f(c⬘) f(c⬘,1)⬘ f(c⬘,2) f(c⬘,3)⬘ … f(c⬘,n)⬘
… … … … … … … … … …
␦n⬘ f(n⬘) ␦n″ f(n″) f(n⬘) f(n⬘,1)⬘ f(n⬘,2) f(n⬘,3)⬘ … f(n⬘,n)⬘
n times, according to the number of possible relational matrixes.
␦ indicates variation span of the environmental variable x; f, affectation functions of the
environmental variable x.

the Gualdalquivir). The Lynx almost always lives between 400 and 1300
m, mainly in sparsely disturbed mediterranean woods or bushes, but also
in replanted pine and eucalyptus woods, partially open fields (“dehesas”),
and other antropogenic formations where it is to be found in a sporadic
way. in the mountains it tends to breed in inaccessible sites (mainly areas
of very dense vegetation). No establishment of populations was observed
in areas with less then 60% bush or tree cover. A diversity of habitat
potentiates the abundance of the species. The distance from disturbance
areas such as villages and roads is also preferred. The species avoids agricul-
tural area as well as intensive forestation areas. It appears only in ecotones
where the availability of rabbit is high. The vegetation cover is the main
conditioning factor as well as the low human disturbance of the landscape.
The abundance seems to depend on many factors: the diversity of the
vegetation, the soil type, the land use, and mainly the presence or abundance
of rabbit. The existence of clearings in the woods and bushes seems to be
very favourable because of its positive influence on the rabbit population
[1]. “A park-like structure of the vegetation where small areas of woods
or bush alternate with more open areas near large areas of dense closed
vegetation, is typical for the areas where the species shows higher densi-
ties” [3].
The identification of the potential habitats was based on the knowledge
that the Lynx occurred or was only reported to occur, in recent years, in
given types of vegetation structures (close to open “Montado”3 with a
relatively dense undercover); furthermore, the species was dependent on
access to open areas for hunting purposes [3] and demanded a low to very
low disturbance level of the habitat. Additionally, it is important to notice
that no Lynx was reported to appear in the Monchique Mountains. This
granite formation located west of the present road has profoundly disturbed
vegetation due to intensive forestation with pine and eucalyptus trees.

3
Xeric evergreen formations of Quercus suber and/or Quercus rotundifoliae.
 672
Table 5
Structural–functional classification system in Landscape Ecology (adapted from Forman & Godron, 1986)
Landscape Structural Nature (types) Functions Dynamic
components characteristics (changes)
Matrix Microheterogeneity Resource Habitat Stability
Macroheterogeneity Disturbance Complementarity Resilience
Connectivity (chronicle) Control of the Seasonality
Continuity Endurance spatial dynamics
Porosity Consistence
Patch Size Resource Habitat Meta-stability
Shape Disturbance Complementarity Resilience
Number (chronicle) Polarity Seasonality
Biotype Remanescent Permeability Type of border
Configuration Regenerated Source
Vertical structure Introduced (productivity)
Internal heterogeneity Ephemerality Absorption/
(gradient character) Accumulation
Corridor Width Resource Habitat Meta-stability
(Border/ Connectivity (continuity) Disturbance Conductivity Resilience
Ecotone) Biotype (chronicle) Filter/Barrier Seasonality
Ecotone convolution Remanescent Source Type of border
Gradient character Regenerated Absorption/
Introduced Accumulation
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Ephemerality Hygroscopie
J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680

Contrast– Permeability
Similitude Complementarity
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J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680 673

3.3. The procedure

By analysing the existing information on the distribution of the different
vegetation types in the region (based on the CORINE LAND COVER
results from 1985, information that was verified and still considered valid
for the general region, with the advantage of covering both southern Portu-
gal and southwestern Spain), a relationship could be established between
the distribution of the target vegetation structures and the geological, mor-
phological, and edaphic characteristics of the region.
1. A strong relationship was then identified between the vegetation
cover and the schist-graywacke formation of the late Carbon, strongly
eroded due to their high morphological energy; therefore, they were
unsuitable for common agriculture practices.
2. At the same time, a complementarity was identified between these
areas which were almost all covered with the type of vegetation that
was important for the study) and the steparian adjacent landscapes
which, together with similar patches within the Montado matrix, were
ideal hunting areas for the Lynx.
3. Along with these observations, continuity was identified between the
xeric schistic mountain chain and the similar deep eroded valley of
the Guadiana River, which forms the border with Spain.
4. As a result, the continuity was then not only morphological (deeply
eroded schist formations), but edaphic and vegetational; or it could
be interpreted as the remaining areas of a wider habitat that were
not transformed by intensive or extensive agricultural use (such as
the plain landscapes north of the mountain chain and west of the
Guadiana Valley, where an open stepic extensive agricultural use
predominates) (Fig. 2).
Given the fact that almost all the recorded observations of the Lynx in
the last 20 years in southern Portugal and southwest Spain were mainly
made in this type of landscape (with the important exception of the Coto
Doñana in the estuary of the Guadalquivir in Spain, which has no ecological
equivalent in other parts of the region), a relatively certainty of having
identified the main potential area of distribution of the species in southern
Portugal and the linking corridors (with the wider genetic pool of the
Spanish Lynx populations) was achieved.
The obtained results proved the crucial importance of the mountain
chain and the Guadiana Valley as the only link between the coastal moun-
tains, where a relatively large population and the Spanish genetic pool has
been reported. At first glance, the construction of the projected highway
would create a barrier across this wide corridor and could destroy the
survival possibilities of the species in almost half of its potential remaining
Portuguese habitats. Nevertheless, this barrier would prevent the gene pool
transmission between the Spanish and the Portuguese southern populations
of Lynx.
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674 J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680

Fig. 2. Potential distribution of the Lynx according to the results of the ILA analysis.

It was also demonstrated that the use of the existing road and railway
corridor for the construction of the highway (widening the present road)
was not a viable alternative, since it was already an active barrier, due not
only to the intense and growing road and railway traffic, but also to the
way the existing road and railway corridor follows along a natural valley
created by a geological fault. This constitutes a cumulative barrier to the
transversal movements of the Lynx that were confined to a very reduced
number of river corridors, all converging in a single crossing gorge in S.
Marcos da Serra (Fig. 2).
Confronted with this qualitative potential diagnostic of the viability of the
remaining populations of Iberian Lynx in southern Portugal, the conclusions
point to their short-term extinction, independent from the site of the new
highway corridor. A comparative assessment was undertaken between the
proposed construction project, the no-construction solution, and the widen-
ing of the existing road.
The first assessment considered the design of the proposed highway-
corridor that would cross the mountains over the tops of the water separa-
tion lines, determining two important characteristics of the final work:
1. It was mainly located above the surrounding landscape;
2. Approximately 1/3 of its length consisted of viaducts and bridges with
an average length of 300 m and 30 to 40 m elevation above the
valley floor.
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J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680 675

A second assessment concluded that the alternative corridor, which was

defended by the ecological NGOs, would have fewer, shorter, and lower
bridges and viaducts. This conclusion considered that the existing road and
railway line running along a valley and therefore under the surrounding
landscapes, would have softer morphology. Concomitantly, the location of
S. Marcos da Serra would potentially be chosen for the construction of a
road junction linking the highway to the southwestern and western Algarve
along the two rivers that constitute the present main potential corridors
for the eastward movements of the Lynx.4 The location of the road relative
to the surrounding landscapes has been stressed because it has a direct
influence on the width of the disturbance (vision and noise) along the
corridor, a factor that is a determinant in the impact on land animals such
as the Lynx.
Comparing the alternatives (widening of the existing road or constructing
a parallel highway versus the project highway corridor) only from these
structural and functional landscape ecological points of view and consider-
ing a broad geographical perspective of the distribution and movement of
the species, the EIA team was forced to conclude the following:
• The proposed new highway corridor crossing the mountains would
not critically enhance the landscape fragmentation (since the vegeta-
tion under the large and high viaducts and bridges would be preserved;
as a result, its functionality as a corridor for the Lynx would remain un-
disturbed).
• The overall homogeneous distribution of bridges and viaducts along
the crossing of the mountains would have the advantage of preventing
the occurrence of strangulations due to the number and the characteris-
tics of the crossing sites. This situation would constitute an improve-
ment compared to the current situation that happens now in S. Marcos
da Serra, where the movement corridors of the Lynx converge in a
gorge occupied by a road junction and a railway without any bridge
to allow the species undisturbed east—west movements.
• The maintenance and enhancement of this situation by the widening
of the road or the construction of a parallel highway determine cumula-
tive impacts and new threats to the movements of the species between
its southern and western potential and present location sites, which
point to the endangerment of its habitat potential.
The main contradiction between the results from this approach and the
approach of the ecological NGOs was that they focused their attention on
the single habitat (the single mountain of Caldeirão) and the risk of the
habitat fragmentation, while the ILA was focused on the broader relation-

4
One must stress that the construction of the highway would allow a more intensive use
of the secondary residences in Algarve, which would imply intensive nightly traffic on week-
ends. This would provide a strong visual impact that would constrain the approach of the
road by the Lynx, enhancing its barrier effect.
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676 J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680

ships between the entire species population, its potential habitats, and
mainly the potential connections between the single habitats. In this way
it was possible to identify:
• The risks of isolation of the existing population;
• The factors determining that isolation;
• The present and potential connection paths; and
• The natural and artificial barriers (that constrain the viability of the
potentially existing populations, and its future expansion or re-
gression).
It must be noted that all the assumptions of the critics to the ILA study
were not based on alternative studies but only on inferences biased by the
concept that “one evil is better than two.” All the arguments were focused
on the alleged fragmentation of the mountain habitat, ignoring the already
existing fragmentation effect of the present road and its strong enhancement
by its transformation into a highway with more intensive traffic.
Independent of our work, the report on the present distribution of
the Lynx in Portugal was published after the study and confirmed all its
assumptions (Fig. 3). This study, based on a more than 10-year-long research
project (LIBERNE project), determines that the larger Portuguese popula-
tion of Lynx survives in the southwestern mountain of Espinhaço do Cão
and has its only links to the Spanish gene pool across the Serra do Caldeirão.
The connectivity corridors between these two areas is constituted of the
Odelouca River Valley in the south and Torto River Valley in the north
of the Monchique Mountains, where the species was never observed. The
southern corridor is particularly important because it is almost the only
corridor used by the species; the northern corridor is more used by the
much smaller population surviving in the Serra do Cercal and it is probable
that there are no links between the two populations west from the Mon-
chique Mountains.
As a result, the study proves the importance of the schist-graywacke
mountains with shrub and montado vegetation as an almost exclusive habi-
tat for the species in Portugal, as well as the importance of the west—east
links to the Spanish gene pools, given the reduced size of the Portuguese
populations, which is far under the metapopulation dimension.

4. The contribution of the landscape ecological structural/functional

approach to a regional and national nature conservation strategy
The EIA described above shows how the structural/functional instru-
ment of the LE can constitute one of the frameworks for a regional/national
nature conservation strategy, together with the “target species and habitats”
approach. The main advantage of the ILA is that it has no previous environ-
mentalist bias of “natural” or “artificial” criteria in the consideration of
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J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680 677

Fig. 3. Distribution of the Lynx in the Study Area (Ceia, 1998).

the landscape; on the contrary, it focuses its attention on the structure

(present or potential) of the landscape and the resulting functionality and
strangulations. As a result, it allows the expert to identify the “naturality,”
or the “dynamic stability,” of the present structure and the derived costs
of preservation, transformation, or management.
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678 J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680

Simultaneously, by providing a set of tools to identify (according to the

specie’s or groups of species’ needs or habitats) the ecological niches that
they demand, it allows to identify the sites where viable populations or
metapopulations can be established or preserved. Furthermore, it allows
the assessment of the compatibility of that preservation with the economical
and social uses, even in situations of low available ecological information
on the target species or habitats.

5. Conclusions
The example given and the methodology proposed show that LE is
now a powerful and useful tool for landscape management. It allows the
evaluation of the cost of maintenance of given habitats or structures in
certain sites and the identification of cumulative ecological impacts, there-
fore avoiding biased conclusions or statements derived from an insufficient
knowledge of the ecology of the target species or habitats. Fundamentally,
it builds a regional and local tool that contributes to an integrated consider-
ation of the spatial constraints of the management of species, habitats, and
economical and social uses. The preventive argument of the Type II Error
can be avoided in this scenario.
A particularly important conclusion is the urgent need for an integrated
ecological evaluation of plans and policies at the regional and national
levels, where the landscape will not be considered as a “white sheet” (con-
sidering only the economical and social infrastructures and uses), but as a
complex structural and functional system where economy, culture, and
environment are irreversibly bounded.
It is also important to highlight the main contradiction between the
classical biological conservationists’ (target species) approach and the pro-
posed ILA approach. The first one focuses its attention mainly on the single
habitat and on the results of its isolation or fragmentation; the broad
regional scope of the ILA allows that the degree of resulting habitat isola-
tion or fragmentation can be estimated for the different alternatives, to-
gether with the evaluation of the viability of the entire species, considering
its potential and present distribution area. With the ILA methodology it
is possible to develop a consistent habitat analysis based on scarce ecological
data on a target species population (e.g., Lynx), which contributes to the
reduction of Types I and II errors. This is mainly due to the decrease of
the uncertainty within the decision making process.

6. Final remarks
The final ministerial decision on the location of the new highway ignored
the conclusions of the EIA, and without a comparative study decided for
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J.P. Fernandes / Environ. Impact Assessment Rev. 20 (2000) 665–680 679

the corridor along the fracture valley. The decision failed to meet the
current EIA procedures, mainly due to the following reasons:
1. Selection of a new corridor without previous comparative assessment;
2. Proceeding directly to the construction phase, skipping the environ-
mental analysis of the design phase.
Although the arguments for the decision were mainly environmental,
following the NGO’s arguments, the decision criteria were mainly economi-
cal, ensuring a higher rate of use of the projected highway. This meant
avoiding the need for large improvements on the existing road, concentrat-
ing the traffic on the areas of the main tourist resorts and secondary resi-
dence concentrations.

Acknowledgments
Dr. Luı́s Palma (University of Algarve) for all the incentives for writing
this paper; TECNINVESTE S.A. for allowing the publication of the results
of the EIA study; Dra. Helena Ceia of the Nature Conservation Institute
for her availability in giving access to all information on the Lynx in Portu-
gal; and Eng. Isabel Rovisco for his help in reviewing the paper.

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