Kernel density applied to the quantitative assessment of geodiversity

The development of research involving the geodiversity concept has been growing in the last two decades. The quantification of spatial patterns of geodiversity seems to be one of the most promising lines of research related with natural diversity, since it explores the relations between abiotic elements. This last aspect can be crucial, not only for territorial management, but also for conservation initiatives associated with biodiversity. The main aim of this study was to develop a new GIS procedure, based on centroid analysis, to calculate a geodiversity index, using kernel density, and to test its application in two municipalities with different area surfaces and geological setting. The proposed method is an upgrade of those previously published based on a spatial grid system at a landscape scale. The results of this method show that it is possible to obtain a spatial geodiversity standard that reflects the spatial variation of natural abiotic elements on both territories and that lithology and geomorphology are the key drivers that control the geodiversity index. In addition, the testing procedures have demonstrated that this method can be applied to areas with any geological and geomorphological setting and at different scales and also to be a useful tool for land use planning.Acknowledgements This work is co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização), project ICT (UID/GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007690 and national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. The first author received a PhD grant from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (REF. SFRH/BD/ 64533/2009).