College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Center for Land Use Education and Research
The Forest Fragmentation maps are created using a model with land cover as the input data. Here, the Connecticut's Changing Landscape land cover was the input data source. There are some important things to understand about land cover, including how it was created and its limitations. The Connecticut's Changing Landscape website also has a "What We're Measuring" section explaining important details about what our land cover is, and isn't. If you haven't visited before, be sure to do so. Click here to go straight to the What We're Measuring section of the land cover website, or use the links in the blue box at the right.
Connecticut is approximately 58% forested, ranking thirteenth among the fifty states in percentage of land that is under forest cover. Connecticut is also one of the most densely populated states in the country. This leads to a unique situation in which many people live in juxtaposition with the forest. Given the importance of our forest resources, it is logical that we should examine the impact of our activities on the forests of Connecticut. Information such as the Connecticut’s Changing Landscape land cover provides us with the ability to analyze forest fragmentation within the state and quantify the condition of existing forest. It’s critical, however, that studies like Connecticut’s Changing Landscape Forest Fragmentation be clear about their methods and subsequent interpretations and results. This section of the website is offered as a quick, visual guide to help the viewer understand the basics of remote sensing, the limitations inherent in using Landsat imagery, and what our forest fragmentation results mean.
The forest fragmentation maps are derived from the Connecticut's Changing Landscape Land Cover. This website covers some basic and very important limitations of satellite-derived, 100ft pixel resolution. Be sure to visit A Quick Remote Sensing Primer, Understanding 30-meter Resolution and its Limits and Images to Land Cover.
