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Classification of Forest Fragmentation in North America |
What this map layer shows:
The amount and type of forest fragmentation in North America. |
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Background Information |
Sample Map
The Classification of Forest Fragmentation map layer is a grid map of
North America, including the Caribbean and most of Mexico, showing the
amount of forest and the connectivity between patches of forest. The
map portrays continental patterns at a relatively coarse scale and is
considered a first step toward quantifying forest fragmentation and its
potential impacts on biodiversity. These data were originally created
as part of a global analysis of forest fragmentation and other land cover
patterns that was based on digital land cover maps derived from remote
sensing and produced by the Global
Land Cover Characteristics (GLCC)
project. The primary data source for the underlying GLCC land cover maps
is Advanced
Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite imagery
from the early 1990s. This map layer was compiled by the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS).
The Classification of Forest Fragmentation in North America map layer
shows the fragmentation of forest cover in North America. The forest
fragmentation classification is an index value designed to distinguish
among types of fragmentation (for example, edges on the interior versus
the exterior of a forest patch), and it also reflects differences in
the absolute amount of forest present. However, no distinction was drawn
between natural and human-caused fragmentation. The fragmentation classification
index value is best interpreted as a relative value in comparison with
other places on the same map. Also available is a map layer depicting
the causes of forest fragmentation in the United
States; this map layer
is offered in three resolutions: 1 kilometer, 540 meters, and 270 meters. |
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