Land-use portfolios and the management of private landholdings in south-central Indiana |
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Authors: | Shanon Donnelly |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Geography and Planning, University of Akron, 302 Buchtel Common, Akron, OH 44325-5005, USA |
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Abstract: | In the study of land-use and land-cover change as an important contributor to regional environmental change, linking household
level land-use decisions to particular land-cover patterns has been an enduring challenge. The frequent conflation of land
use and land cover has been appropriate and fruitful in regions where extractive activities are common, but the decoupling
of household characteristics from land-cover choices in exurban landscapes may require that the two be treated separately.
This research employs the concept of a land-use portfolio, defined as a unique combination of land use types, and land cover
derived from remote sensing to examine the relationship between land use and land cover at the parcel scale. Data on the type
and spatial organization of land use were collected for individual parcels through sketch maps constructed by land owners
and then described quantitatively using GIS and spatial metrics from landscape ecology. The results of this analysis suggest
that in the naturally forested region of south-central Indiana, parcels are frequently managed as multiple types of land use
thereby supporting the portfolio approach. Generally, land-management complexity is related to land-cover fragmentation, but
the strength of this relationship varies across portfolio types. In addition, substantial amounts of forest land cover occur
in non-forest land uses further supporting the need to treat the two separately to accurately link land use intentions and
land cover outcomes. |
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