How Fragmented are the Nation’s Forests?
Researchers used the 2001 National Land Cover Dataset to assess the spatial patterns of forest, grass, and shrub land cover as part of the USDA Forest Service 2010 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment. For the 2015 update of the 2010 Assessment, a scientist from the Eastern Threat Center developed a protocol for using recent satellite imagery and land cover maps to update information about fragmentation and loss of interior area of U.S. forests between 2001 and 2011 within ecological sections of the conterminous United States. The information was combined with field plot data from the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program to expand a comparative assessment of forest fragmentation to 125 major forest types. The scientist also used new data to update summaries of forest areas that qualify as protected land under International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria. The RPA Assessment is a useful reference for congressional staffers, federal and non-federal agencies, and organizations interested in forest trends.
Right: Landscape patterns are seen in three digital views (left images) of a rural landscape near Randall, Minnesota (top right photo) where land cover is primarily forest and agriculture. The center left image shows connections between large forest patches in red. The bottom left image shows local dominance of forest in green, agriculture in blue, and built-up areas in red. Click to enlarge.
References:
Riitters, K.H.; Coulston, J.W.; Wickham, J.D. 2012. Fragmentation of forest communities in the eastern United States. Forest Ecology and Management 263:85-93.
Riitters, K.H. 2011. Spatial patterns of land cover in the United States: a technical document supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-136. Asheville, NC: Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 64 p.
Forest Service Partners/Collaborators: Research and Development Quantitative Sciences; Research and Development Forest Inventory and Analysis
External Partners/Collaborators: North Carolina State University
Contact: Kurt Riitters
