Tracking Fragmentation of Natural Communities and Changes in Land Cover: Applications of Landsat Data for Conservation in an Urban Landscape (Chicago Wilderness)

Abstract

Greater Chicago is home to a surprisingly high concentration of globally significant natural communities. Within the metropolis survive some of the world's best remaining examples of eastern tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, open oak woodland, and prairie wetland. Chicago Wilderness is more than 81,000 ha of protected areas in the urban and suburban matrix. It also is the name of the coalition of more than 110 organizations committed to the survival of these natural lands. The long-term health of these imperiled communities depends on proper management of the more extensive, restorable lands that surround and connect the patches of high-quality habitat. Information critical to the success of conservation efforts in the region includes (1) a current vegetation map of Chicago Wilderness in sufficient detail to allow quantitative goal setting for the region's biodiversity recovery plan; (2) quantified fragmentation status of the natural communities; and (3) patterns of land-cover change and their effects on the vitality of communities under threat. We used multispectral data from the Landsat thematic mapper (October 1997) and associated ground truthing to produce a current vegetation map. With multitemporal remote-sensing data (acquired in 1972, 1985, and 1997), we derived land-cover maps of the region at roughly equivalent intervals over the past 25 years. Analyses with geographic information system models reveal rapid acceleration of urban and suburban sprawl over the past 12 years. Satellite images provide striking visual comparisons of land use and health. They also provide banks of geographically referenced data that make quantitative tracking of trends possible. The data on habitat degradation and fragmentation are the biological foundation of quantitative goals for regional restoration.Rastreo de la Fragmentación de Comunidades Naturales y de Cambios en la Cobertura de Suelo: Aplicaciones de Datos de Landsat para la Conservación en un Paisaje Urbano (Chicago Wilderness) Resumen: En Chicago hay una concentración de comunidades naturales globalmente significativas sorprendentemente alta. En la metrópolis sobreviven algunos de los mejores ejemplos mundiales remanentes de praderas de pastos orientales, sabanas de roble, bosques abiertos de roble y humedales de pradera. Chicago Wilderness es más de 81,000 ha de áreas protegidas en la matriz urbana y suburbana. También es el nombre de una coalición de más de 110 organizaciones dedicadas a la supervivencia de esas tierras naturales. La salud a largo plazo de estas comunidades amenazadas depende del manejo adecuado de las tierras, más extensas y restaurables, que rodean y conectan a los fragmentos de hábitat de alta calidad. La información crítica para el éxito de los esfuerzos de conservación en la región incluye: (1) un mapa actualizado de la vegetación de Chicago Wilderness con suficiente detalle para que la definición de metas cuantitativas para el plan de re- ‡ * Zone I, [0][1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] II,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][2...

Is the Urban Coyote a Misanthropic Synanthrope? The Case from Chicago

“…General land cover across the six counties encompassed by the metro area in 1997 was estimated to be 33% agriculture, 30% urban, 16% natural areas, and 21% unassociated vegetation (Wang and Moskovits, 2001). Natural areas (including savannas, woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands) have been highly fragmented for some time, first by agriculture in the early 1800s, and more recently through urbanization.…”

“…Coyotes that dispersed from the study area were censored from data analysis. Gehrt et al (2009) created a land-use type coverage with 28.5 m resolution from 1997 Chicago Wilderness/NASA Landsat Thematic Mapper images for use in ArcView GIS software (Wang and Moskovits 2001). We reclassified the original 164 Landsat categories into 8 broad land cover types: Agricultural (usually small fragments of rowcrop land use, but may also include small produce such as pumpkin farms or vegetable gardens), Natural (fragments of natural habitat typically protected from development, but often exposed to extensive human use), Other (typically small areas with a mix of developed and undeveloped properties, such as golf courses or cemeteries), Residential (developed areas for human residents), Urban grass (managed lawns or parks, including corporate campuses, mowed parks or recreational areas), Urban Land (industrial or commercial development, often including a high degree of impervious surfaces), Undeveloped (usually small fragments not managed for wildlife, and either too small for development or in many cases a buffer between developments, such as easements along major thoroughfares), and Water (impoundments or streams, often retention ponds resulting from development).…”

Land fragmentation under rapid urbanization: A cross-site analysis of Southwestern cities

“…In recent years, the greater availability of land-cover data derived from remotely sensed images has made it easier to study urban growth and sprawl (Dietzel et al 2005;Stefanov et al 2001;Vogelmann et al 1998;Yang and Lo 2002;Wang and Moskovits 2001) and to detect urban land fragmentation (Luck and Wu 2002;Wu et al 2010). Landsat images have been used in some cross-site studies to study urban land-use fragmentation (e.g., Luck and Wu 2002;Schneider and Woodcock 2008;Seto and Fragkias 2005;Wu et al 2010).…”

Man in Biosphere Reserve: A Remote Sensing Study in Similipal, Orissa

“…In this regard, protected areas need periodic monitoring for effective conservation, management and planning. Remote sensing is a proven technology that is effective for mapping and characterizing cultural and natural resources (e.g., Jensen, 1996;Campbell, 1997;Welch et al, 2002) which allows observation and measurement of biophysical characteristics of the landscape, and tracking of long term changes in landscapes (Parmenter et al, 2003;Wang & Moskovits, 2001). Change detection using remote sensing helps to discern and analyze areas that have been altered by natural or anthropogenic processes (Jantz et al, 2003;Hansen et al, 2002) .…”