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Landscape assessment of habitat loss: a new approach for a global biodiversity hotspot
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Transcript of Landscape assessment of habitat loss: a new approach for a global biodiversity hotspot
Landscape assessment of habitat loss: a new approach for a global biodiversity hotspot
Jennifer K. CostanzaWilliam J. Platt, Reed F. Noss
Photos: Alan Weakley, Bruce Sorrie
The North American Coastal Plain
Global biodiversity hotspots
Meyers et al. 2000, Mittermeier et al. 2004, Zachos and Habel 2011, others
See Noss et al. 2015 Diversity Distrib. for reasons why the Coastal Plain has not been included
High endemism, also highly vulnerable
Mapping land conversion
Fayetteville NC - Google Earth
Vegetation alteration in frequent-fire ecosystems
Photo: David J. Moorhead, UGa, Bugwood.org
Research Aims
Assess landscape alteration in a way that accounts for changes in vegetation structure and the fire regime, as well as direct loss due to conversion.
Assess how alteration corresponds to the most species-rich ecosystems and areas in the Coastal Plain.
Calculating alterationfor ecosystems, broad habitat types, and the region
Alteration = Proportion highly departed + Proportion converted
1. Vegetation departure2. Fire regime departure
to urban or agriculture
LANDFIRE data and models• Vegetation dynamics models• Biophysical setting (BpS) data• Current succession class (s-class) data
% Vegetation Departure = difference between historic and current
LANDFIRE modeled pre-settlement conditions by ecosystem
Overlay LANDFIRE current mapped conditions by ecosystem
1. Vegetation departure
S-class BpS
Early Mid-open Mid-closed
Late-closed
Late-open
Prop
ortio
n
Compared annual areas burned (ha): - recent wildfire records - LANDFIRE vegetationdynamics models (pre-settlement)
Result: Recent area burned = 15% of modeled pre-settlement area burned,
ORThe current fire regime is 85% departed.
2. Fire regime departure
Calculating alterationfor ecosystems, broad habitat types, and the region
Alteration = Proportion highly departed + Proportion converted
Average(veg. departure, fire regime departure) > 0.66
to urban or agriculture
(See Swaty et al. 2011 Plos One,FRCC Literature)
Alteration by region and broad habitat type
72%
86%
98% 96%
Coastal Plain Forests Grasslands/Marshes
Savannas/Woodlands
Highly departedConverted
Ecosystem (BpS)Highly
departed ConvertedTotal
altered
Savannas and woodlands
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland
68.5% 31.4% 100.0%
Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland
49.8% 50.2% 100.0%
Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods
73.7% 26.3% 100.0%
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland
64.7% 35.3% 100.0%
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill 46.4% 53.0% 99.4%
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods
80.3% 19.7% 100.0%
ForestsEast Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest
46.6% 50.3% 97.0%
Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest 18.7% 45.3% 64.0%
Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp-Pocosin-Baygall
24.8% 7.6% 32.4%
Landscape alteration:spatial results
Tree species richnessSpecies range maps
Richness-alteration overlap
Summary
• This method of assessing alteration doubles the area of concern in the Coastal Plain.
• The Coastal Plain is 85% altered, and species-rich, fire-dependent systems are 96%+.
• Spatial patterns point out places that have high richness and alteration.
• Spatial data and summaries by ecoregion can be used to prioritize conservation in the world’s newest biodiversity hotspot.