U.S. LAND USE AND LAND COVER TRENDS: RATES, CAUSES, AND CONSEQUENCES OF LATE-TWENTIETH CENTURY CHANGE

Information on the rates, driving forces, and consequences of land use and land cover change is important in studies addressing issues ranging from the health of aquatic resources to climate change. Land use and land cover changes occur at all scales, and changes at local scales can have dramatic, cumulative impacts at broader scales. Consequently, land use and land cover changes are not just of concern at local and regional levels (i.e., because of impacts on land management practices, economic health and sustainability, and social processes), but globally as well. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of information on land use and land cover change except at very local levels. This four-year research project between the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a goal to document the types, geographic distributions, and rates of land cover change on a region-by-region basis over the past 30 years for the conterminous U.S., and to determine some of the key drivers and consequences of the changes. The objectives of the study are to: · Develop a comprehensive methodology for using sampling and change analysis techniques and Landsat MSS and TM data for measuring regional land cover change across the U.S. · Characterize the types, rates, and temporal variability of change for a 30-year period