@article {685,
	title = {Connectivity of core habitat in the Northeastern United States: Parks and protected areas in a landscape context},
	journal = {Remote Sensing of Environment},
	volume = {113},
	year = {2009},
	month = {2009},
	pages = {1421-1429},
	abstract = {The exurbanization process, particularly rural residential development, is reducing the amount of roadless areas and remote habitat across the nation, with implications for biodiversity and ecosystem integrity of parks and protected areas. The need for connecting protected areas via existing habitat centers, or relatively undisturbed core areas, is greater than ever as exurbanization expands. Our objective was to make use of nationally available data sets on roads as well as information derived from satellite imagery, including impervious cover of the built environment and forest canopy density, to identify core habitat of the northeastern and mid-Atlantic USA. The identified core habitat areas, which covered 73,730 km(2) across 1177 discrete units, were stratified in terms of land ownership and management, and then analyzed in a landscape context using connectivity metrics derived from graph theory. The connectivity analysis made use of a suitability surface, derived from the land cover information, which approximated the costs incurred by hypothetical animals traversing the landscape. We show that protected areas are frequently identified as core habitat but are typically isolated, albeit sometimes buffered by adjacent multi-use lands (such as state or national forests). Over one third of the core habitat we identified has no protection, and another 42\% is subject to motorized recreation or timber extraction. We provide maps showing the relative importance of core habitat areas for potentially connecting existing protected areas, and also provide an example of the vulnerability of connectivity to projected future residential development around one greater park ecosystem.},
	keywords = {connectivity, Conservation, Graph theory, impervious cover, Land cover change, Landscape ecology, Management, Protected areas, Roadless areas},
	url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL\&_udi=B6V6V-4VXJW0M-2\&_user=112642\&_coverDate=07\%2F15\%2F2009\&_alid=1020426547\&_rdoc=1\&_fmt=high\&_orig=search\&_cdi=5824\&_sort=r\&_docanchor=\&view=c\&_ct=1\&_acct=C000059608\&_version=1\&_urlVersion=0\&_userid=11},
	author = {Goetz, S. J. and Jantz, P. and Jantz, C. A.}
}
@article {448,
	title = {Using widely available geospatial data sets to assess the influence of roads and buffers on habitat core areas and connectivity},
	journal = {Natural Areas Journal},
	volume = {28},
	number = {3},
	year = {2008},
	pages = {261-274},
	abstract = {Land development pressures that threaten habitat core areas and connectivity are intensifying across the nation and extending beyond urbanized areas in the form of rural residential development. This is particularly true in the temperate forests of the northeastern United States. We used a suite of nationally available data sets derived from satellite imagery to identify core habitat areas of the northeastern United States, including impervious cover (urbanized and developed areas) and forest cover (canopy density). These were augmented with road network extent and density. We analyzed the influence of different types of unimproved roads and amount of forest cover on identification of the extent and configuration of roadless areas, and then assessed these core habitat areas in terms of land ownership (public, private) and management (parks, refuges, multi-use). We also derived patch connectivity metrics using a graph theory approach, making use of cost surfaces that accounted for the above variables and associated landscape metrics. A case study linking suitable habitat for a keystone predator is explored. Because increased conversion and fragmentation of many roadless areas by exurban development will exacerbate the likelihood of local species extinctions, and complicate efforts to preserve intact functional ecosystems, our results suggest a starting point for the construction of a more comprehensive and ecologically functional reserve network for the region. The use of widely available data sets demonstrated the capability for similar analyses to be conducted nationally or for other regions.},
	keywords = {road density buffers core habitat connectivity graph theory cost surface},
	author = {Jantz, P. and Goetz, S.}
}
@article {449,
	title = {Urbanization and the loss of resource lands within the Chesapeake Bay watershed},
	journal = {Environmental Management},
	volume = {36},
	number = {6},
	year = {2005},
	pages = {808-825},
	abstract = {We made use of land cover maps, and land use change associated with urbanization, to provide estimates of the loss of natural resource lands (forest, agriculture, and wetland areas) across the 168,000 km2 Chesapeake Bay watershed. We conducted extensive accuracy assessments of the satellite-derived maps, most of which were produced by us using widely available multitemporal Landsat imagery. The change in urbanization was derived from impervious surface area maps (the built environment) for 1990 and 2000, from which we estimated the loss of resource lands that occurred during this decade. Within the watershed, we observed a 61\% increase in developed land (from 5,177 to 8,363 km2). Most of this new development (64\%) occurred on agricultural and grasslands, whereas 33\% occurred on forested land. Some smaller municipalities lost as much as 17\% of their forest lands and 36\% of their agricultural lands to development, although in the outlying counties losses ranged from 0\% to 1.4\% for forests and 0\% to 2.6\% for agriculture. Fast-growing urban areas surrounded by forested land experienced the most loss of forest to impervious surfaces. These estimates could be used for the monitoring of the impacts of development across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and the approach has utility for other regions nationwide. In turn, the results and the approach can help jurisdictions set goals for resource land protection and acquisition that are consistent with regional restoration goals.},
	keywords = {Biological diversity Forestry management impervious surface Chesapeake Bay Landsat},
	author = {Jantz, P. and Goetz, S. J. and Jantz, C. A.}
}
