Monitoring Land Change is the South

1. Monitoring Land Change is the South John Coulston Team Leader: Methods & Techniques Research USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Forest Inventory & Analysis

2. Resource and Social Issues • Land change • Land use change • Changing land management intents • Parcelization caused by change in land use and division of parcels • Land cover change • Changing biological cover over the landscape • Fragmentation caused by complex land use and land cover patterns. • Land change is also one driver behind • Invasive species establishment • Water quality and quantity • Likelihood of practicing forestry • Biomass availability

3. Information Assets • To quantify, monitor, and model land use and cover change a suite of geospatial data and products are available. • Research is also underway to improve base data and parameterize empirical models.

4. Base FIA Information

5. Modeled Products:In Production

6. Completed Research Looking for Funding Sample based image change: land use and land cover Total Change = 19.03%

7. Collaborative Research With The Center For Integrated Forest Science and Synthesis 2020 Dominant Land Use Percent Forest 2040 Dominant Land Use Dominant Land Use Percent Developed Yadkin-Peedee Watershed 2060 Dominant Land Use Management Type Growing Stock Volume

8. Closing Comments • Given that land area is fixed, the division of the land into land uses and land covers impacts a broad range of ecosystem services. • Examining ecosystem services increasingly requires spatially explicit information. • We must begin to articulate the ‘forest’ story within the context of other land uses and land covers. • Relevant policy recommendations will come from understanding forest, the context in which they exist, the relevant drivers of change, and the ecosystem services influenced.