Landscape assessment of habitat loss: a new approach for a global biodiversity hotspot

Jennifer K. CostanzaWilliam J. Platt, Reed F. Noss

Photos: Alan Weakley, Bruce Sorrie

The North American Coastal Plain

Global biodiversity hotspots

Meyers et al. 2000, Mittermeier et al. 2004, Zachos and Habel 2011, others

See Noss et al. 2015 Diversity Distrib. for reasons why the Coastal Plain has not been included

High endemism, also highly vulnerable

Mapping land conversion

Fayetteville NC - Google Earth

Vegetation alteration in frequent-fire ecosystems

Photo: David J. Moorhead, UGa, Bugwood.org

Research Aims

Assess landscape alteration in a way that accounts for changes in vegetation structure and the fire regime, as well as direct loss due to conversion.

Assess how alteration corresponds to the most species-rich ecosystems and areas in the Coastal Plain.

Calculating alterationfor ecosystems, broad habitat types, and the region

Alteration = Proportion highly departed + Proportion converted

1. Vegetation departure2. Fire regime departure

to urban or agriculture

LANDFIRE data and models• Vegetation dynamics models• Biophysical setting (BpS) data• Current succession class (s-class) data

% Vegetation Departure = difference between historic and current

LANDFIRE modeled pre-settlement conditions by ecosystem

Overlay LANDFIRE current mapped conditions by ecosystem

1. Vegetation departure

S-class BpS

Early Mid-open Mid-closed

Late-closed

Late-open

Prop

ortio

n

Compared annual areas burned (ha): - recent wildfire records - LANDFIRE vegetationdynamics models (pre-settlement)

Result: Recent area burned = 15% of modeled pre-settlement area burned,

ORThe current fire regime is 85% departed.

2. Fire regime departure

Calculating alterationfor ecosystems, broad habitat types, and the region

Alteration = Proportion highly departed + Proportion converted

Average(veg. departure, fire regime departure) > 0.66

to urban or agriculture

(See Swaty et al. 2011 Plos One,FRCC Literature)

Alteration by region and broad habitat type

72%

86%

98% 96%

Coastal Plain Forests Grasslands/Marshes

Savannas/Woodlands

Highly departedConverted

Ecosystem (BpS)Highly

departed ConvertedTotal

altered

Savannas and woodlands

Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland

68.5% 31.4% 100.0%

Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland

49.8% 50.2% 100.0%

Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods

73.7% 26.3% 100.0%

East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland

64.7% 35.3% 100.0%

Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill 46.4% 53.0% 99.4%

West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods

80.3% 19.7% 100.0%

ForestsEast Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest

46.6% 50.3% 97.0%

Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest 18.7% 45.3% 64.0%

Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp-Pocosin-Baygall

24.8% 7.6% 32.4%

Landscape alteration:spatial results

Tree species richnessSpecies range maps

Richness-alteration overlap

Summary

• This method of assessing alteration doubles the area of concern in the Coastal Plain.

• The Coastal Plain is 85% altered, and species-rich, fire-dependent systems are 96%+.

• Spatial patterns point out places that have high richness and alteration.

• Spatial data and summaries by ecoregion can be used to prioritize conservation in the world’s newest biodiversity hotspot.