Abstract
This paper empirically examines patterns of afforestation in vicinities immediately surrounding National Park/National River and National Forest lands. The public lands (Ozark National Forest and Buffalo National River) are found on the Ozark Plateau and represent different management mandates. A spatial lag model is presented comparing two LANDSAT images in conjunction with sociodemographic measures covering the same time period. The findings here make two important points. First, the public land boundaries are shown to act as ecological switches. Second, results underscore the importance of understanding how publicly managed lands with different mandates function within the larger social as well as geophysical landscape matrix. Empirical evidence demonstrates that public lands set aside for “preservation” (Buffalo National River) are associated with greater afforestation, whereas public lands set aside for “conservation and use of natural resources” (Ozark National Forest) are surrounded by less afforestation.
Highlights
Public lands have been set aside around the world for a variety of reasons
Spatial lag regression findings provide a regional overview of the processes associated with afforestation in the study area
The public land boundaries are shown to act as ecological switches
Summary
Public lands have been set aside around the world for a variety of reasons The rationale for these publicly managed lands can range from safeguarding a natural landscape or protecting the habitat of a particular species to conserving forests for future utilization. Previous research on changes in land cover close to public land boundaries has established that impacts differ by type of public land and operate in a complex manner (Moon & Farmer, 2010). This research purposefully builds on previous lines of inquiry (Moon & Farmer, 2010) and considers whether afforestation, a different type of land cover change, operates differently. The empirical evidence presented here underscores the importance of understanding how publicly managed lands function within the larger landscape matrix
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