Landscape Analysis to Assess the Impact of Development Projects on Forests

Jaeyong Choi, Sanghyuk Lee, Seung Yong Ji, Jong-Chul Jeong and Peter Sang-Hoon Lee
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Jaeyong Choi: Department of Environment & Forest Resources, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
Sanghyuk Lee: Institute of Agricultural Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
Seung Yong Ji: Daejeon Development Institute, Daejeon 34863, Korea
Jong-Chul Jeong: Department of Geoinformatics, Namseoul University, Cheonan 31020, Korea
Peter Sang-Hoon Lee: Graduate School of Urban Studies, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: The consistent demand for development of forest lands in South Korea has resulted in the need for a new approach to estimate environmental impacts in order to sustainably manage forests. In this study, two types of development were selected: golf courses and industrial complexes. Using FRAGSTATS ver. 4.2 (University of Massachussetts, Amherst, MA, USA), the fragmentation effects of each development type were analyzed based on forest area within project sites and buffer zones ranging up to 2000 m. Each type had representative landscape metrics reflecting the average impact ranges by forest area: “Number of Patches”, “Patch Density” and “Total Edge Length” for golf courses; “Number of Patches”, “Patch Density” and “Connectance Index” for industrial complexes. Golf courses with the smallest forest area had a larger impact range than those with larger forest areas. For industrial complexes, the impact range increased with forest area. Although individual sites exhibited some variation in impact range, they were generally consistent with the overall patterns observed. Investigating tree growth by buffer zone showed the ecological effect of development. To comprehensively manage development of forest lands, further research on other development types is needed. These results could be useful for creating a decision-making system with regard to development on forest lands.

Keywords: development impact on forest landscape; fragmentation analysis; impact range estimation; forest environment; landscape scale; forest landscape change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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