Science Inventory

REGIONAL AND GLOBAL PATTERNS OF POPULATION, LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE: AN OVERVIEW OF STRESSORS AND IMPACTS

Citation:

Jarnagin, S T. REGIONAL AND GLOBAL PATTERNS OF POPULATION, LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE: AN OVERVIEW OF STRESSORS AND IMPACTS. GISCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING 41(3):207-227, (2004).

Impact/Purpose:

The primary objectives of this research are to:

Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;

Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;

Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;

Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;

Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.

This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.

Description:

This paper provides an overview of land use and land cover (LULC) change and regional to global patterns of that change and responses. Human activities now dominate the Earth's global ecosystem and LULC change is one of the most pervasive and influential activities. LULC change alters nutrient cycling, hydrology, ecology, ecosystem and community functioning, species diversity, and enhances the spread of invasive species and communicable disease. Drivers of LULC change and methods of quantification are discussed.The discussion does not attempt to examine in detail the specific consequence of each potential change in land use and land cover at a global scale. Rather, it concentrates on the human drivers of land use and land cover change, regional patterns of change, and their resulting stressors and ecological impacts.

Record Details:

Record Type:DOCUMENT( JOURNAL/ PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL)
Product Published Date:11/09/2004
Record Last Revised:06/06/2005
Record ID: 89437