NDLI: Forest fragmentation in Loudoun County, Virginia, USA evaluated with multitemporal Landsat imagery

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Fuller, Douglas O.
Copyright Year	2001
Abstract	In order to study forest fragmentation in the Virginia, USA Piedmont, a series of Landsat images from 1973, 1987, and 1999 covering a rapidly developing area (Loudoun County) was used to classify forest from non-forest. The classified images were analyzed using a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the spatial and temporal patterns of fragmentation, and to relate these patterns to infrared radiance provided by Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) band 6. The analysis was concentrated on eleven major watersheds of Loudoun County. The relationship between urbanized area per watershed and mean fragment size showed a strong negative decay form (r $^{2}$=0.757, p<0.0001). Analysis of four landscape metrics showed increasing fragmentation of forest cover, particularly from 1987 to 1999, as well as an increase in forest edge and shape complexity. Of the landscape metrics used, the perimeter-to-area (P/A) ratio showed the strongest relationship with mean radiance of forest patches. In addition, there was a negative, linear relationship between distance from major roads and band 6 radiance of forested pixels. Overall, the study shows that landscape metrics can convey meaningful information on biophysical changes associated with forest fragmentation at broad scales. These changes suggest that ambient temperature increases associated with urban sprawl may have important, long-term implications for ecophysiological processes.
Starting Page	627
Ending Page	642
Page Count	16
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09212973
Journal	Landscape Ecology
Volume Number	16
Issue Number	7
e-ISSN	15729761
Language	English
Publisher	Kluwer Academic Publishers
Publisher Date	2001-01-01
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Ecology Landscape Ecology Plant Ecology Forestry Forestry Management Plant Sciences
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Geography, Planning and Development Ecology Nature and Landscape Conservation

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