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SOCIAL AND BIOPHYSICAL CORRELATES OF CHANGE IN FOREST LANDSCAPES OF THE INTERIOR COLUMBIA BASIN, USA
Author(s) -
Black Anne E.,
Morgan Penelope,
Hessburg Paul F.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
ecological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.864
H-Index - 213
eISSN - 1939-5582
pISSN - 1051-0761
DOI - 10.1890/1051-0761(2003)013[0051:sabcoc]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - scale (ratio) , vegetation (pathology) , spatial ecology , ecology , geography , physical geography , temporal scales , ecosystem , forest dynamics , global change , structural basin , environmental resource management , climate change , environmental science , cartography , geology , biology , paleontology , medicine , pathology
Understanding multi‐scale interactions among human activities and biophysical factors in ecosystem dynamics is a critical step toward managing for long‐term ecological integrity. Studying variation and change over multiple spatial and temporal scales (100–100 000 ha and 1–500 yr) allows one to tease apart the relative roles of these factors. Using meso‐scale data predominantly from the recent Interior Columbia River Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP), we assessed the role of several economic, demographic, cultural, climatic, topographic, and geologic factors in forest spatial pattern changes (from the 1930s to the 1990s) across 800 000 km 2 of the interior Northwest, USA. Our 228 forested subwatersheds (∼10 000 ha) lie in 76 counties in six states. We identified key correlates of change, their hierarchical scale, and the scale of vegetation classification at which these correlates explained most change. We used general linear models and partial multiple regression analysis, supplemented by logistic and correlation analysis. Models explained 40–93% of total variation. Changes were not necessarily correlated to factors of the same scale. Broad‐scale social systems encompassing land ownership systems, economic market structures, and cultural value systems appear in all significant models regardless of the response scale. Biophysical parameters describing growing site conditions moderated or exacerbated changes. Corresponding Editor: W. V. Reid