title: Assessing Landscape Change and Processes of Recurrence, Replacement, and Recovery in the Southeastern Coastal Plains, USA.
abstract: The processes of landscape change are complex, exhibiting spatial variability as well as linear, cyclical, and reversible characteristics. To better understand the various processes that cause transformation, a data aggregation, validation, and attribution approach was developed and applied to an analysis of the Southeastern Coastal Plains (SECP). The approach integrates information from available national land-use, natural disturbance, and land-cover data to efficiently assess spatially-specific changes and causes. Between 2001 and 2006, the processes of change affected 7.8% of the SECP but varied across small-scale ecoregions. Processes were placed into a simple conceptual framework to explicitly identify the type and direction of change based on three general characteristics: replacement, recurrence, and recovery. Replacement processes, whereby a land use or cover is supplanted by a new land use, including urbanization and agricultural expansion, accounted for approximately 15% of the extent of change. Recurrent processes that contribute to cyclical changes in land cover, including forest harvest/replanting and fire, accounted for 83%. Most forest cover changes were recurrent, while the extents of recurrent silviculture and forest replacement processes such as urbanization far exceeded forest recovery processes. The total extent of landscape recovery, from prior land use to natural or semi-natural vegetation cover, accounted for less than 3% of change. In a region of complex change, increases in transitory grassland and shrubland covers were caused by large-scale intensive plantation silviculture and small-scale activities including mining reclamation. Explicit identification of the process types and dynamics presented here may improve the understanding of land-cover change and landscape trajectory.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, 2150C Centre Ave, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, USA. madrummond@usgs.gov.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Drummond
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Box 25046, DFC MS980, Denver, CO, 80225, USA.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Stier
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS), 47914 252nd St., Sioux Falls, SD, 57198, USA.
authors.forename: Roger F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Auch
authors.affiliation: Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (SGT, Inc.), Contractor to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, SD, 57198, USA.
authors.forename: Janis L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA.
authors.forename: Glenn E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Box 25046, DFC MS980, Denver, CO, 80225, USA.
authors.forename: Jodi L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Riegle
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Box 25046, DFC MS980, Denver, CO, 80225, USA.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hester
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Western Geographic Science Center, MS-531, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Soulard
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, 2327 University Way, Suite 2, Bozeman, MT, 59715, USA.
authors.forename: Jamie L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: McBeth
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D016468:Forestry / Q000379:methods*; D065928:Forests; D065948:Grassland; D015144:Southeastern United States; D014197:Trees; D014507:Urbanization / Q000639:trends
keywords: Coastal plain; Ecoregion; Land recovery; Land-use process; Landscape change; Silviculture