The overall objective or the current study was to develop a methodology to spatially identify all major habitats in Europe. In the development the Pan-European Ecological Network (PEEN) it is anticipated that an indicative map of an ecological networkfor the whole of Europe will be produced. The design of such an indicative map requires information about the spatial distribution of habitats and species in Europe, those both inside and outside Natura 2000 sites. Information about the spatial distribution of species is being collected by many international organisations. However, there are no explicit maps about the spatial distribution of habitats in Europe. Therefore, the development of European habitat maps is a prerequisite for the further development of a pan-European ecological network. Furthermore, provision of European figures on the extent of habitats and biodiversity is fundamental for general policy formulation for the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity across Europe. The habitatclasses as given in Annex I of the Habitats Directive, better known as Natura 2000 habitats, were taken as the reference. On the basis of the Annex I habitat definitions knowledge rules were defined in a flexible manner using graphic models within a GIS environment to optimally combine existing spatial databases (such as land cover, soil data, topographic data and species distribution maps) to identify the spatial distribution of the major European habitats.
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