4 Interpreting Regional Connectivity

To represent stream connectivity at a regional scale, we calculated the length weighted stream connectivity \(C_{j}\) using all stream segments within each HUC-6 unit (\(\overline{C}\)). This means regional connectivity values can be calculated for multiple scales (e.g., watershed unit, natural subregion, etc) as long as stream segments are properly clipped and lengths recalculated. Connectivity scores for all HUC-8 watersheds in Alberta, using the 2018 HFI. Watershed connectivity ranged between 14.9% and 100%, with an average score of 63.8%.

The stream connectivity (red = 0, blue = 1) of all HUC-8 watersheds in Alberta, Canada using the 2018 Human Footprint Inventory.