The purpose of this thesis is to develop a model for estimation of the interconnectedness of the Danish dune habitats (MESK) for use in future nature management.
The thesis centers around the dune habitats in Thy National Park in the northwestern part of Denmark.
The national park aims to enhance the interconnectedness of the dune habitats.
This thesis seeks to develop a model to estimate this interconnectedness.
To set up such a model the factors influencing the interconnectedness in the dune habitats are categorized, and assigned weights to come together in a joint model.
The examined factors are land cover, soil type, proximity to dune slacks and mean wind speed.
The findings using the model show that the largest areas of interconnectedness are found in the western part of the national park while most of the lesser connected areas are located in the eastern part.
MESK estimates a good level of interconnectedness in 48,2 % of the national park area, with 10 % scoring the maximum score and 33,9 % of Thy National Park is covered by barriers disconnecting the dune habitats.
The model is then used to test three scenarios where the land cover is altered as a result of nature management to uncover how this affects the interconnectedness.
The scenarios are; converting all coniferous trees to broad-leaved trees, converting cultivated fields to grass fields, and converting all fields and wooded areas to dune habitats.
Removing trees and fields will result in the greatest interconnectedness between the areas with dune habitats.