The underlying theme of the Prairie Cluster Prototype LTEM Program is the question of whether the species, communities and ecological processes of small remnant and restored prairies are sustainable in the face of adjacent habitat loss and fragmentation. The relatively small Prairie Cluster parks are bordered by adjacent land uses ranging from cattle grazing of native rangeland, to cultivated agricultural fields, to rapid urban development. A key aspect of measuring the effects of isolation and fragmentation is documenting past and current land uses and analyzing rates of land use change.

Monitoring questions and approach

• How has land use adjacent to the parks changed in the last 50-60 years?

• Have there been direct losses of adjacent natural areas?

• Has adjacent land been converted from semi-natural land uses (e.g. native rangeland, prairie hay meadows, woodlots) to non-native vegetation types?

• How is human population pressure affecting adjacent land use (i.e. point-source pollution, road development, urbanization)?

Aerial photography from three time periods (1940s, 1960s, and 1990s) has been acquired and ortho-photographs produced for six Prairie Cluster parks. In three parks, a project is underway to classify and detect changes in land use/land cover over the time span of the acquired imagery. The current land use/land cover map will form a baseline for detecting future change. Imagery will be acquired at ten-year intervals to document future changes in land use adjacent to the parks.