Characterizing, measuring and visualizing forest resources An inadequate treatment by an unqualified presenter.

Things in this talk Remote Sensing 001 Ways We’re Measuring Forests at UConn Quick Note on Visualization

Geospatial Technologies Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Remote Sensing (RS) Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Internet

Remote sensing is the art and science of detecting, identifying, classifying, and analyzing the earth’s surface using special sensors onboard airplanes and satellites. And since we’re talking forest rather than trees…

Landscape Features Reflect Light Differently Band Value Band Value

Examples of RS Data Imagery Land Cover Elevation

RS Imagery General reference/Base mapping Visual background to other data Digitize new data Update existing data

What is land cover? RS imageLand cover map 39% forest21% developed 16% wetland

Land Cover vs Land Use Land Cover: Literally, what is covering the land (forest, wetland, pavement) Land Use: What is planned, practiced or permitted on a given area (commercial, residential, dedicated open space)

Things in this talk Remote Sensing 001 Ways We’re Measuring Forests at UConn Quick Note on Visualization

Analysis & Characterization Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation analysis Distance from a road analysis Buffer analysis

2002 Land cover Forest 56% Water 3% Wetland 4% Other 2% Developed 19% Turf/Grass 4% Grasses/Ag 12%

Coniferous Forest Deciduous Forest Forested Wetland Water Non-forest 2002 Land cover: forest only (and water)

Town of Coventry: 67% forested 2002 Forest Cover: by town

Tolland County: 68% forested 2002 Forest Cover: by county

Willimantic Regional Basin: 73% forested 2002 Forest Cover: by watershed

Forest Cover: Advantages Easy to understand Total cover relates to watershed research, possible watershed plan goals Can easily fit into “Basic NEMO” educational approach

Analysis & Characterization Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation analysis Distance from a road analysis Buffer analysis

Forest Block Analysis Isolate forest cover Remove any polygons smaller than the size of interest Block size is key for birds and others –Considerable evidence that powerline corridors and roads reduce the quality of habitat for many species of forest birds in the surrounding habitat –Powerlines appear to be a conduit that brings predators and cowbirds deep into the forest interior

Forest Blocks – by Town Town of Coventry

Forest Blocks – by County Tolland County

Forest Blocks – by Watershed Willimantic Regional Basin

Forest Block: Advantages Easy to generate once you have cover data Relates well to specific habitat concerns Allows the important distinction between amount of forest and amount of usable forest for wildlife

Analysis & Characterization Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation analysis Distance from a road analysis Buffer analysis

Original method developed by Riitters et al. (2000) of the USDA/USFS to assess global forest fragmentation from 1 km land cover data. Adapted by CLEAR for use on Landsat-derived land cover information (30-meter spatial resolution). UConn CLEAR FF Analysis

Pixel-by-pixel analysis A moving analysis window (9x9 is shown) is used to look at each center pixel in relation to all the surrounding pixels. Forest Pixel Non-Forest Pixel

Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest. Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot. Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area. Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest. Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest. Forest Classes

Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest. Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot. Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area. Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest. Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest. Forest Classes

Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest. Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot. Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area. Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest. Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest. Forest Classes

Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest. Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot. Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area. Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest. Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest. Forest Classes

Core Forest - all surrounding grid cells are forest. Perforated Forest - the interior edge of a forest tract such as would occur around a small clearing or house lot. Edge Forest - grid cell is on the exterior edge of a forest tract such as would occur along a large agricultural field or urban area. Transitional Forest - about half of the surrounding grid cells are forest. Patch Forest - less than 40% of surrounding grid cells are forest. Forest Classes

Forested area: 1,886,426 acres = 59.3% of CT 2002 Forest Cover Map

Core Forest: 576,764 acres = 18.1% of CT ( 9x9 analysis window ) Forest Fragmentation Map 2002

Forest Blocks – by Town Developed2672 Non-forest5098 Water546 Core/Interior Forest3461 Perforated Forest4876 Edge Forest5724 Transitional Forest1780 Patch Forest548

Forest Blocks – by County Developed32439 Non-forest47377 Water6065 Core/Interior Forest57771 Perforated Forest50610 Edge Forest53491 Transitional Forest14505 Patch Forest5490

Forest Blocks – by Watershed Developed16372 Non-forest20325 Water3209 Core/Interior Forest30216 Perforated Forest29549 Edge Forest31042 Transitional Forest7780 Patch Forest2325

Forest Frag: Advantages Provide data about quality as well as quantity of forest Can be run at different scales/grid sizes depending on concerns Tells you something about pattern of the forested landscape and its suitability for habitat

Forest Cover all based on the same input data (land cover) best use(s) for each??? Forest CoverForest BlocksForest Fragmentation

The Forest Frag Wizard!

There are many other Forest Fragmentation tools out there

Analysis & Characterization Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation analysis Distance from a road analysis Buffer analysis

A Road Runs Through It A nationwide study by Foreman (2000) estimates that 22% of total land area is affected ecologically by roads (within 100m of roads). This is further supported by Riitters & Wickham (2003). A study in Massachusetts along Rte. 2 by Foreman & Deblinger (2000) reports that the maximum distance that could be directly impacted by roads is up to 300m (984ft).

11% of Connecticut forest is within 100 ft of roads 29% of Connecticut forest is within 300 ft of roads 52% of Connecticut forest is within 600 ft of roads 100ft300ft600ft

100 feet 5400 feet Distance of Forest From Roads A nationwide study by Foreman (2000) estimates that 22% of total land area is affected ecologically by roads (within 100m of roads).

Analysis & Characterization Forest cover maps Forest block maps Forest fragmentation analysis Distance from a road analysis Buffer analysis

Land Cover Within Buffers

100 ft200 ft300 ft

What we measured “Natural Vegetation” Developed Turf & Grass Other Grasses & Ag. Deciduous Forest Coniferous Forest Water Forest Wetland Non-forested Wetland Tidal Wetland Barren Utility Right-of-way

25 Basins with greatest Natural Vegetation loss (percent)

Combined Indicators of Stream Health Stream Health% Impervious Watershed % Natural Veg. 100 ft riparian buffer Excellent<= 6%>= 65% Good<=10%>=60% Fair10-25%40-60% Poor>25%<40% After Goetz et al., 2003

Visualization

Stupid PPT & Photoshop Tricks

Economic modeling

Web Tools

Build Out Analysis ArcGIS and Scenario360

Potential New Homes

Google Earth Residential buildout analysis

Are you insinuatingthat my talk wasn’tall it was supposedto be??!