*3.2. Environmental Heterogeneity*

In order to understand the impact of the environmental heterogeneity, especially within the ECI pixel, the SH, as an indicator of habitat heterogeneity, was calculated through Rao's Q index over the four study areas. Table 1 summarizes Rao's Q index values for each site.

**Table 1.** Rao's Q value over the four ECI pixels of each study area.


The highest Rao's Q value is in the area of Bosco della Fonata (higher environmental heterogeneity), whereas the lowest is in the area of Monte Bondone (lower heterogeneity).

Figure 7 shows both the above mentioned study areas with the exact position of the eddy covariance tower (yellow dot) and the pixel size of the CAMEL database (red rectangle). Also from a first view, it is possible to notice the difference in habitat heterogeneity between the two sites. In the area of Monte Bondone (Figure 7A), the forested and grassland area are predominant. In the area of Bosco della Fontana (Figure 7B), the environmental heterogeneity is higher. Different habitats fall within the CAMEL pixel: the forested area (in the upper right corner), grassland, farmland, uncultivated areas and the aquatic ecosystems of the Mincio river and of the Mantova's lakes.

**Figure 7.** (**A**) shows the area of Monte Bondone and (**B**) shows the area of Bosco della Fontana; the yellow dot shows the position of the eddy covariance tower. The red rectangle shows the size of the CAMEL pixel.
