Conterminous United States land-cover change (1985-2016): New insights from annual time series

Roger F. Auch; Danika Fay Wellington; Janis L. Taylor; Stephen V. Stehman; Heather J. Tollerud; Jesslyn F. Brown; Thomas Loveland; Bruce Pengra; Josephine Horton; Zhe Zhu; Alemayehu Midekisa; Kristi Sayler; George Z. Xian; Christopher Barnes; Ryan R. Reker

doi:10.3390/land11020298

Conterminous United States land-cover change (1985-2016): New insights from annual time series

Land

By: Roger F. Auch, Danika Fay Wellington, Janis L. Taylor, Stephen V. Stehman, Heather J. Tollerud, Jesslyn F. Brown, Thomas Loveland, Bruce Pengra, Josephine Horton, Zhe Zhu, Alemayehu Midekisa, Kristi Sayler, George Z. Xian, Christopher Barnes, and Ryan R. Reker

https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020298

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More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
Data Release: USGS data release - LCMAP CONUS Geographic Assessment Data Tables v1.0 1985-2016
Open Access Version: Publisher Index Page
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Abstract

Sample-based estimates augmented by complete coverage land-cover maps were used to estimate area and describe patterns of annual land-cover change across the conterminous United States (CONUS) between 1985 and 2016. Most of the CONUS land cover remained stable in terms of net class change over this time, but a substantial gross change dynamic was captured by the annual and cumulative time intervals. The dominant types of changes can be grouped into natural resource cycles, increases in urbanization, and surface-water dynamics. The annual estimates over the 30-year time series showed a reduction in the rate of urban expansion after 2006, new growth in cropland after 2007, but a net overall decline in cropland since 1985, and two eras of net tree cover loss, the first one early in the time series and the second starting in 2012. Our study provides a holistic assessment of the CONUS land-cover conversion (class) change and can serve as a new benchmark for future research.

Suggested Citation

Auch, R.F., Wellington, D.F., Taylor, J.L., Stehman, S.V., Tollerud, H.J., Brown, J.F., Loveland, T., Pengra, B., Horton, J., Zhu, Z., Midekisa, A., Sayler, K., Xian, G.Z., Barnes, C., and Reker, R.R., 2022, Conterminous United States land-cover change (1985-2016): New insights from annual time series: Land, v. 11, no. 2, 298, 20 p., https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020298.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Conterminous United States land-cover change (1985-2016): New insights from annual time series
Series title	Land
DOI	10.3390/land11020298
Volume	11
Issue	2
Publication Date	February 16, 2022
Year Published	2022
Language	English
Publisher	MDPI
Contributing office(s)	Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
Description	298, 20 p.
Country	United States