Human-Induced Switches on Public Land Boundaries: The Emergence of Ecological Islands?

This article examines interactions between land cover changes and human activity near public land boundaries. The article empirically examines multiple dimensions that may drive land cover changes, using a framework including ecological switches and biogeographical islands. Publicly owned lands become “islands” in the broader landscape within which they are embedded. As such, they may be of insufficient size or too isolated to allow the targeted ecosystems to continue to function as designed. Compounding the problems of isolation, size, and fragmentation, publicly owned parks or forests may function as human-mediated ecological switches, inducing specific land cover changes. Utilizing satellite data and a suite of sociodemographic data over a 10-year span, this research examines land cover changes surrounding public lands at regional and locally specific granularities. Results suggest policymakers and natural resource planners may be able to anticipate and incorporate local variations into future planning...