Next: Introduction
The Land-Use Change Analysis System (LUCAS) for
Evaluating Landscape Management Decisions
Michael W. Berry
- Richard O. Flamm
- Brett C. Hazen
- Rhonda L. MacIntyre
Abstract:
Ecological dynamics in human-influenced landscapes
are strongly affected by socioeconomic factors that influence
land-use decision making. Incorporating these factors into
a spatially-explicit landscape-change model requires integrating
multidisciplinary data. In order to study the effects of
land use on landscape structure in regions such as the
Little Tennessee River basin in western North Carolina and
the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, we have developed
the Land- Use Change Analysis
System or LUCAS for UNIX-based workstations.
The map layers used by LUCAS
are derived from remotely-sensed images, census
and ownership maps, topographical maps, and outputs from
econometric models. These map layers are stored, displayed, and analyzed
using a public-domain Geographic Information System (GIS).
Simulations using LUCAS generate
new maps of land cover representing the amount of
land-cover change so that issues such as biodiversity
conservation, assessing the importance of landscape
elements to meet conservation goals, and long-term
landscape integrity can be addressed.
Brett Hazen (hazen@cs.utk.edu)
Thu Jun 15 19:58:09 EDT 1995