Reconstructing Historical Forest Cover and Land Use Dynamics in the Northeastern United States Using Geospatial Analysis and Airborne LiDAR

Abstract

The northeastern United States experienced extensive deforestation during the seventeenth through twentieth centuries primarily for European agriculture, which peaked in the mid-nineteenth century, and followed by widespread farmstead abandonment and reforestation. Analysis of airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data has revealed thousands of historical land-use features with topographic signatures across the landscape under the region’s now-dense forest canopy. This study investigates two different types of features—stone walls and relict charcoal hearths—both of which are associated with widespread deforestation in the region. Our results demonstrate that LiDAR is an effective tool in reconstructing and quantifying the distribution and magnitude of historical forest cover using these relict land use features as a reliable proxy. Furthermore, these methods allow for direct quantification of cumulative land clearing over time in each town, in addition to the extent, intensity, and spatial distribution of cleared land and forest cover.

/为了欧洲的农业, 17世纪到20世纪美国东北部经历了大规模的森林砍伐, 在19世纪中期达到顶峰, 随后是广泛的农庄废弃和重新造林。通过分析机载激光探测和测距（LiDAR）数据, 在该地区茂密的森林冠层下, 发现了数千个具有地形特征的历史土地利用地物。本研究调查了两种不同类型的地物（石墙和残炭炉）, 它们都与该地区广泛的森林砍伐有关。结果表明, 借助于残存的土地利用地物, LiDAR可以有效地重建和量化历史森林覆盖的分布和规模。此外, 这些方法可以直接量化每个城镇的土地累积开荒量, 以及被清除的土地和森林覆盖的范围、强度和空间分布。

El nordeste de los Estados Unidos experimentó vasta deforestación entre los siglos XVII y XX, principalmente a causa de la agricultura europea, que alcanzó su pico a mediados del siglo XIX, para después dar lugar a un amplio abandono de las tierras cultivadas y a la reforestación. El análisis de datos de detección lumínica aérea y alcance óptico (LiDAR) ha revelado miles de rasgos históricos de uso del suelo con firmas topográficas situadas actualmente en el paisaje bajo el denso dosel forestal de la región. En este estudio se investigan dos tipos diferentes de rasgos––muros de piedra y restos de fogones de carbón vegetal––ambos asociados con la extensa deforestación de la región. Nuestros resultados demuestran que LiDAR es una herramienta efectiva para reconstruir y cuantificar la distribución y magnitud de la cobertura forestal histórica, usando esos rasgos relictos de uso del suelo como un proxy confiable. Además, estos métodos permiten en cada pueblo la cuantificación directa del desmonte del terreno acumulado a través del tiempo, junto con el alcance, intensidad y distribución espacial de la tierra desmontada y de la cubierta forestal.

Key Words:

• airborne LiDAR
• Anthropocene
• historical land use
• human–land use dynamics

关键词:

• 机载LiDAR
• 人类世
• 历史土地利用
• 人类-土地利用变化。

Palabras clave:

• Antropoceno
• dinámica del uso cultural del suelo
• LiDAR aerotransportado
• uso histórico del suelo

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge and thank Robert Thorson at the University of Connecticut for continued discussion regarding this research and Andrew Jolly-Ballantine, Alexia Smith, and Cindy Zhang for their comments and feedback on an earlier version of this article. We additionally thank Zachary Raslan and Richard Ellsworth for their work in assisting with development of the relict charcoal hearth data set used here. We are grateful to the Cornwall Historical Society for permission to use the two historical photographs in Figure 3. We extend our gratitude to the reviewers and editor who provided insightful comments to help us clarify certain aspects of the text and figures.

Additional information

Funding

A portion of the archival research was funded by the Carville Earle award from the Historical Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers and by the University of Connecticut Graduate School. A majority of the research presented here was carried out as part of Katharine M. Johnson’s doctoral dissertation at the University of Connecticut between 2012 and 2016. This work was partially funded by the National Science Foundation Grant BCS-1654462 and partially by NOAA through the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies under Cooperative Agreement NA19NES4320002.

Notes on contributors

Katharine M. Johnson

KATHARINE M. JOHNSON is a Research Associate for the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies at North Carolina State University based in Asheville, NC 28801. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include human–environment landscape dynamics, geographic information science, and environmental remote sensing.

William B. Ouimet

WILLIAM B. OUIMET is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Geosciences and Department of Geography, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include earth surface processes, human–environment interactions, landscape evolution, and tectonic geomorphology.