Incremental Ecological Index (IEI)

Year

2021

Organisation

Terna

Description

From the application of the Incremental Ecological Index (IEI) obtained from the analysis and combination of specific ecological indicators measured in the field (vegetation, ornithofauna, entomofauna), Terna intends to obtain information on the ecological status for a given restoration area in order to compare pre- and post-operam and to evaluate the changes in terms of ecosystem quality variations.

Highlights:

  • The way in which the data of the ecological indicators are put together to obtain information on the ecological status of an artificial neo-ecosystem by applying the IEI equation is an innovative one.
  • Unique putting together of indicators, by proposing a fast sampling method capable of providing synthetic and scientifically valid information on the ecological status of a neo-ecosystem.
  • The method can be applied to evaluate the ecological status of any neo-ecosystem created through restoration ecology interventions, such as vegetation restoration, masking, etc. as well as to other geographical regions.

About the Practice:
The project’s main goal is to define a methodology aiming to evaluate, from a qualitative and quantitative point, changes in the ecological status of the various neo-ecosystems created through mitigation and compensation actions (restoration of vegetation, masking, etc.). The implementation methods of the ecological restoration projects are important to determine the speed with which the neo-ecosystem reaches characteristics close to similar natural ecosystems and are defined in such a way that it can be used long-term.

RGI gratefully acknowledges the EU LIFE funding support:

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the LIFE Programme. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.