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Scientific Investigations Report 2009–5054

Land Cover Trends in the Southern Florida Coastal Plain

By Steven Kambly and Thomas R. Moreland

Thumbnail of and link to Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5054 PDF (11.9 MB)

Summary

This report presents an assessment of land use and land cover change in the Southern Florida Coastal Plain ecoregion for the period from 1973 to 2000. The ecoregion is one of 84 level III ecoregions defined by the Environmental Protection Agency; ecoregions have been designed to serve as a spatial framework for environmental resource management and denote areas that contain a geographically distinct assemblage of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology.

The Southern Florida Coastal Plain ecoregion covers an area of approximately 22,407 square kilometers [8,651 square miles] across the lower portion of the Florida peninsula, from Lake Okeechobee southward through the Florida Keys. It comprises flat plains with wet soils, marshland and swamp land cover with Everglades and palmetto prairie vegetation types.

Posted April 21, 2009

For additional information contact:

Steven Kambly
U.S. Geological Survey
Eastern Geographic Science Center
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 521
Reston, VA 20192

E-mail: skambly@usgs.gov
Phone: 703-648-5094

Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF); the latest version of Adobe Reader or similar software is required to view it. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.


Suggested citation:

Kambly, Steven, and Moreland, T.R., 2009, Land cover trends in the Southern Florida Coastal Plain: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2009–5054, 16 p.


Contents

Introduction

Ecoregion Description

Land Cover History

Environmental Crises

Methods

Land Cover Change: 1973–2000

Driving Forces: 1973–2000

Validation

Summary

Selected References

Appendix—Land Cover Classes and Definitions Used in the Land Cover Trends Project



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