At this step a comparative analysis of the refined impacts of each alternative can be completed. The impacts should reflect the avoidance and minimization steps considered in Steps 1.2 and 1.3. One approach is to utilize an environmental matrix that allows for side by side comparisons of each alternative by topic. For habitat fragmentation, the comparisons would be based on the project specific features of the habitat networks and target species, including estimates of affected acreage (direct and indirect) of cores, island and corridors, functional scores for connectivity gain/loss, or other metrics adopted in Step 1. This information would assist the project team in selecting a preferred alternative and identify mitigation needs.