Land Use Changes in the Southeastern United States: Quantitative Changes, Drivers, and Expected Environmental Impacts

Land use change analysis provides valuable information for landscape monitoring, managing, and prioritizing large area conservation practices. There has been significant interest in the southeastern United States (SEUS) due to substantial land change from various economic activities since the 1940s. This study uses quantitative data from the Economic Research Service (ERS) for landscape change analysis, addressing land change among five major land types for twelve states in the SEUS from 1945 to 2012. The study also conducted a literature review using the PSALSAR framework to identify significant drivers related to land type changes from research articles within the region. The analysis showed how each land type changed over the period for each state in the time period and the percentage change for the primary drivers related to land use change. The literature review identified significant drivers of land use and land cover change (LULCC) within the SEUS. The associated drivers were categorized into natural and artificial drivers, then further subdivided into eight categories related to land type changes in the region. A schematic diagram was developed to show land type changes that impacted environmental changes from various studies in the SEUS. The results concluded that Forest land accounted for 12% change and agricultural land for 20%; population growth in the region is an average of 2.59% annually. It also concluded that the need for research to understand past land use trends, direction and magnitude of land cover changes is essential. Significant drivers such as urban expansion and agriculture are critical to the impending use of land in the region; their impacts are attributed to environmental changes in the region and must be monitored.