<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>With an annual population growth rate currently estimated at about 5 %, Virginia presents an ideal case study for anthropogenic environmental disturbances. Urbanization as a result of increasing human activities has led to fragmentation of many crucial habitats, especially forests. Analysis of the extent to which forest fragmentation and connectivity have occurred in Virginia and corresponding changes associated with these processes, is relevant for conserving forest habitats and the biodiversity that they support. This study applies FRAGSTATS, a software system developed to assess forest fragmentation and connectivity, in combination with ArcGIS, to identify changes in forest patch metrics for Virginia over a ten-year interval (2001, 2006 and 2011) using National Land Cover Datasets (NLCD) maps as data source. Results show that, over ten years, forest patches have significantly declined in size, while the number of forest patches and total length of edge areas have increased over time. Results of this study show that road density in Virginia has no significant effect on forest fragmentation between 2001 and 2011. Analysis using ArcGIS revealed that sizes of core forest areas in Virginia are declining, and that these reductions match local topographic slope. This is because the steepness of the slope of an area dictates the degree of human activities in that area. These results suggest that urban sprawl associated with areas with gentler slopes, may have significant, long-term consequences for natural forest ecosystems and ultimately, biodiversity conservation.</p></abstract>

With an annual population growth rate currently estimated at about 5 %, Virginia presents an ideal case study for anthropogenic environmental disturbances. Urbanization as a result of increasing human activities has led to fragmentation of many crucial habitats, especially forests. Analysis of the extent to which forest fragmentation and connectivity have occurred in Virginia and corresponding changes associated with these processes, is relevant for conserving forest habitats and the biodiversity that they support. This study applies FRAGSTATS, a software system developed to assess forest fragmentation and connectivity, in combination with ArcGIS, to identify changes in forest patch metrics for Virginia over a ten-year interval (2001, 2006 and 2011) using National Land Cover Datasets (NLCD) maps as data source. Results show that, over ten years, forest patches have significantly declined in size, while the number of forest patches and total length of edge areas have increased over time. Results of this study show that road density in Virginia has no significant effect on forest fragmentation between 2001 and 2011. Analysis using ArcGIS revealed that sizes of core forest areas in Virginia are declining, and that these reductions match local topographic slope. This is because the steepness of the slope of an area dictates the degree of human activities in that area. These results suggest that urban sprawl associated with areas with gentler slopes, may have significant, long-term consequences for natural forest ecosystems and ultimately, biodiversity conservation.

Forest Fragmentation and Connectivity in Virginia Between 2001 and 2011

Journal of Landscape Ecology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Forest Fragmentation and Connectivity in Virginia Between 2001 and 2011"}

With an annual population growth rate currently estimated at about 5 %, Virginia presents an ideal case study for anthropogenic environmental disturbances....

Forest Fragmentation and Connectivity in Virginia Between 2001 and 2011

Published Online: Feb 14, 2019

Page range: 98 - 119

Received: Nov 08, 2018

Accepted: Nov 27, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jlecol-2018-0014

Keywords
Forest Fragmentation, FRAGSTATS, Core, Connected, Fragmented, Forest patches, Patch metrics, Edge

© 2018 Iris E. M. Fynn et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Forest Fragmentation and Connectivity in Virginia Between 2001 and 2011

Published Online: Feb 14, 2019

Page range: 98 - 119

Received: Nov 08, 2018

Accepted: Nov 27, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jlecol-2018-0014

KeywordsForest Fragmentation, FRAGSTATS, Core, Connected, Fragmented, Forest patches, Patch metrics, Edge

© 2018 Iris E. M. Fynn et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Forest Fragmentation, FRAGSTATS, Core, Connected, Fragmented, Forest patches, Patch metrics, Edge