Forest change assessment using novel spatial indicators
Collaborators: Dr. Giorgos Mountrakis, Sheng Yang
Forest Changes
Funders: USDA NUCFAC, State University of NY–ESF Graduate Assistantship
Motivation: Forests have always been subjected to natural disturbances and, more recently, human-caused stresses. Across the US, forests are altered by harvesting, by fire management practices, by conversion to agriculture, through expansion of urban areas, roads, and recreation. Recently, evidence is mounting that forests will be profoundly affected by climate change, such as increasing damage to forest health caused by the greater incidence of fire, pests and diseases. There is a clear need to create more advanced but easily reproducible and interpretable indicators expressing forest changes through time to assist forest managers in their decisions.
Methodology: Our work is using the National Land Cover Dataset. We apply several spatial statistics to evaluate forest changes.
Findings: Early results indicate clustering among counties with high forest loss.
Relevant papers: Two in preparation.
