USGS Open-File Report 2015–1018: Land-Cover Change in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative, 1973 to 2000

Land-Cover Change in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative, 1973 to 2000

By Mark A. Drummond, Michael P. Stier, and Alisa W. Coffin

Abstract

This report summarizes baseline land-cover change information for four time intervals from between 1973 and 2000 for the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC). The study used sample data from the USGS Land Cover Trends dataset to develop estimates of change for 10 land-cover classes in the LCC. The results show that an estimated 17.7 percent of the LCC land cover had a change during the 27-year period. Cyclic forest dynamics—of timber harvest and regrowth—are the most extensive types of land conversion. Agricultural land had an estimated net decline of 3.5 percent as cropland and pasture were urbanized and developed and converted to forest use. Urban and other developed land covers expanded from 2.0 percent of the LCC in 1973 to 3.1 percent in 2000. The report also highlights causes and challenges of land-cover change.

First posted March 16, 2015

Report PDF (7.04 MB)

For additional information, contact:
Director, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Box 25046, Mail Stop 980
Denver, CO 80225
http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/

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Suggested citation:

Drummond, M.A., Stier, M.P., and 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, 13 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20151018.

ISSN 2331-1258 (online)

Contents

Introduction

Approach

Summary of Findings

References Cited