College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Center for Land Use Education and Research

Statewide: Forest Fragmentation

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Forest Fragmentation

Click on the links to the left to see statewide maps and charts. Don't forget to scroll down for the summary data table below!

Follow these links for a description of the forest categories or to see a visual explanation of the forest categories. For information organized by towns or watersheds, visit Your Town or Your Watershed.

You may also want to visit the land cover "Statewide" page. To download the GIS files, visit the download data page. Finally, don't miss the FAQ page.

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1985 Statewide Forest Fragmentation

1985 CT Forest Fragmentation

 Forest Fragmentation Legend

1990 Statewide Forest Fragmentation

1990 CT Forest Fragmentation

 Forest Fragmentation Legend

1995 Statewide Forest Fragmentation

1995 CT Forest Fragmentation

 Forest Fragmentation Legend

2002 Statewide Forest Fragmentation

2002 CT Land Cover

 Land Cover Legend

2006 Statewide Forest Fragmentation

2006 CT Forest Fragmentation

 Land Cover Legend

1985-2006 Statewide Forest Fragmentation Change

1985-2006 CT Forest Fragmentation Change

 Land Cover Legend

Bar of Statewide Forest Classes

Simple Bar Chart

A bar graph showing forest class change in Connecticut between 1985 and 2006. See the table below for actual values.

 

Bar of Statewide Core Forest Classes

Simple Bar Chart

A bar graph showing core forest change in Connecticut between 1985 and 2006. See the table below for actual values.

 

Pies

1985 Forest Classes

1990 Forest Classes

1995 Forest Classes
1985 Pie
Pie 1990
1995 Pie

2002 Forest Classes

2006 Forest Classes

 
Pie 2002 Pie 2006 Pie Legend

Converted means that this area was forest in 1985 and converted to some other non-forest land cover after 1985. By including this class, each pie is based on the same total area thus allowing the percentages to be compared. See the table below for actual values.

Core Forest Change

 

Core Forest Pie

 

 

In 1985, there were 1621 square miles of Core Forest in Connecticut. Between 1985 and 2006, 264 square miles of Core Forest were lost. Where did they go?

1985 to 2006 sq. miles percent of 1985 core percent of 21 year core loss (pie)
Core Forest to Non-forest 50.5 3.1% 18.6%
Core Forest to Patch Forest 7.3 0.4% 2.7%
Core Forest to Edge Forest 116.4 7.2% 43.0%
Core Forest to Perforated Forest 96.6 6.0% 35.7%
Core Forest No Change 1349.7 83.3% --
Core Forest Gained* 6.8 -0.4% -2.6%
Total 1985 Core Forest 1621    
1985-2006 Loss of Core Forest 264    

Take home message: Most of the core forest lost (79%) was lost to the edge and perforated classes, showing piecemeal encroachment of development.

* Core forest is gained when a field (other grass or agriculture in 1985) is allowed to grow trees and therefore converts back to forest.

FAQ | Caution! 1985 1990 1995 2002 2006 Change
sq. miles % of state sq. miles % of state sq. miles % of state sq. miles % of state sq. miles % of state sq. miles change in %
Patch Forest 233 4.7% 238 4.8% 243 4.9% 251 5.0% 258 5.2% 26 0.5%
Edge Forest 1109 22.3% 1110 22.3% 1109 22.3% 1111 22.4% 1107 22.3% -3 -0.1%
Perforated Forest 145 2.9% 153 3.1% 171 3.4% 188 3.8% 201 4.0% 56 1.1%
Small Core Forest 433 8.7% 431 8.7% 427 8.6% 415 8.4% 411 8.3% -22 -0.4%
Medium Core Forest 297 6.0% 271 5.5% 262 5.3% 246 4.9% 234 4.7% -64 -1.3%
Large Core Forest 890 17.9% 837 16.9% 791 15.9% 747 15.0% 711 14.3% -179 -3.6%
Developed 797 16.0% 862 17.4% 886 17.8% 923 18.6% 942 19.0% 145 2.9%
Non-forest 892 17.9% 897 18.1% 915 18.4% 928 18.7% 944 19.0% 52 2.9%
Water 173 3.5% 169 3.4% 164 3.3% 161 3.2% 161 3.2% -12 1.0%
Total Core Forest 1620 32.6% 1540 31.0% 1481 29.8% 1407 28.3% 1356 27.3% -264 -3.6%
Total Forest 3107 62.5% 3041 61.2% 3004 60.5% 2958 59.5% 2922 58.8% -185 -3.7%