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Title: Land-cover change in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape conservation Cooperative, 1973 to 2000

Author
item DRUMMOND, MARK - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item STIER, MICHAEL - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item Coffin, Alisa

Submitted to: USGS - Scientific Investigations Report
Publication Type: Government Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/20/2015
Publication Date: 3/20/2015
Citation: Drummond, M., Stier, M., Coffin, A.W. 2015. Land-cover change in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape conservation Cooperative, 1973 to 2000. U.S.Geological Survey Open File Report 2015-1018, 13p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20151018.

Interpretive Summary: Land-use change and other human-caused effects on land cover and biophysical conditions have a pervasive yet variable influence across the national landscape. The contemporary human influence on conditions is occurring at a relatively rapid pace, even while conservation efforts strive to maintain ecological integrity and essential ecosystem services. The underlying causes of these changes are numerous, ranging from demographic and socioeconomic changes to technological advances and government policies. Because of the breadth of human influence on the national landscape, it is vital to improve the understanding of historical, current, and future land-use and land-cover change, its causes, and its ecological and climate interactions (U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2010). Here, baseline land-cover change information for the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC; fig. 1) from target years between 1973 and 2000 is summarized in brief. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, facilitated by the U.S. Department of the Interior, are regionally focused networks consisting of “applied conservation science partnerships” whose function is to “provide scientific and technical expertise to produce landscape-scale conservation designs” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2010, p. 1–2). The following report provides a broad overview of many of the land-use and land-cover trends relevant to landscape management and further research.

Technical Abstract: Land-use change and other human-caused effects on land cover and biophysical conditions have a pervasive yet variable influence across the national landscape. The contemporary human influence on conditions is occurring at a relatively rapid pace, even while conservation efforts strive to maintain ecological integrity and essential ecosystem services. The underlying causes of these changes are numerous, ranging from demographic and socioeconomic changes to technological advances and government policies. Because of the breadth of human influence on the national landscape, it is vital to improve the understanding of historical, current, and future land-use and land-cover change, its causes, and its ecological and climate interactions (U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2010). Here, baseline land-cover change information for the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC; fig. 1) from target years between 1973 and 2000 is summarized in brief. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, facilitated by the U.S. Department of the Interior, are regionally focused networks consisting of “applied conservation science partnerships” whose function is to “provide scientific and technical expertise to produce landscape-scale conservation designs” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2010, p. 1–2). The following report provides a broad overview of many of the land-use and land-cover trends relevant to landscape management and further research.