How important is a given area in terms of habitat diversity and associated species diversity? By identifying distinct habitats in a given area, one can highlight areas supporting a large variety of structural and functional ecosystem properties and, indirectly, a potentially higher species diversity.

Indicator unit: The THDI is derived from the square of the number of Terrestrial Habitat Functional Types (THFTs) encountered in a given area divided by the square root of the surface (in km2 ) of the protected area. The higher the THDI, the larger the diversity of habitats.

Area of interest: The THDI can be generated for any terrestrial area (e.g. country, ecoregion or protected area).  The THDI has been calculated for each terrestrial protected area of size ≥ 5 km2 and for the terrestrial parts of each coastal protected areas of size ≥ 5 km2 .

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Data Uploaded by Luca Battistella using the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas Services (2022)