Localizing national fragmentation statistics with forest type maps

Abstract

Fragmentation of forest types is an indicator of biodiversity in the Montreal Process, but the available national data permit assessment of only overall forestland fragmentation, not forest type fragmentation. Here we illustrate how to localize national statistics from the 2003 National Report on Sustainable Forests by combining state vegetation maps with national forestland fragmentation maps. The degree and scale of fragmentation of different forest types can be gauged from the amount of forestland that meets certain fragmentation thresholds at multiple scales of analysis.