Habitat quality

The habitat quality indicator is based on the modelled species distribution of common birds. Data on bird species occurrences were obtained from the EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds. Species distribution models were built by means of the maximum entropy method implemented in Maxent and downscaled at 10 km2 resolution relying on an ecological basis. Within each polygon of the species range defined by the EBCC Atlas, we refined the species occurrence at grid cells of 10 km2 resolution based on the species preferences for breeding habitats. The indicator expresses the relative species richness of common birds as a ratio between local and regional species richness.