assessment of the conservation status of natural and semi-natural patches associated with urbanareasthroughhabitat suitability indices

urban environments rely on the surrounding natural ecosystems remnants as providers of ecosystemfunctions, therefore these areas not only support a unique biodiversity but also have a social value for maintainingpublic health andwellbeing. for this reason, urbanization is considered to be one the biggest threats to ecosystems,leading to native biodiversity simplification and, thus, to a detriment of the provided ecosystemservices.moreover,this change in land use results in high levels of landscape fragmentation and modification in areas surrounding thehabitat remnantswhich, in consequence, become inadequate formany native species. in this context, it is importantthat urban planners have the information to assess the possible consequences of future changes in land use inorder to increase the landscape chances of supporting both, native biodiversity and the needs of a growing humanpopulation. the objective of the present work is to evaluate the ecological integrity of natural and semi-naturalvegetation patches immersed in an urban area in order to generate a conceptual framework for landscapeassessment that allows urban planners to envision the best choice for city development at a given place. to do so,we developed a quantitative integral environmental evaluation index that includes ecological characterization,geological characterization, and environmental characterization (presence of anthropic disturbance) of the assessedarea. we conclude that the index we have generated in this work is suitable to be used as a management tool toallow an unbiased valuation and to identify managing situations that require a short term response.