Lewis & Clark Campus Land Coverage Analysis:

Lawn and Forested Area 1936 & 2005

Meghan Cleland

LC 1936/LC 2005 GPS Points

Campus Safety

Carriage circle

Manor House

LC Campus Coverage 1936

Green= forested area White/Green dashed= Lawn

LC Campus Coverage 2005

Green= forested area White/Green dashed= Lawn

Discussion Pt. 1

• Why these years? Why these variables?

– 1936 (oldest image) vs 2005 (recent) gives a nice historical perspective

• Looking at two aspects of the campus that are aesthetically prized, but dramatically altered

– Environmental impacts of aesthetic features

Discussion Pt. 2: Results

• Forested area: Reduced from 63.5 to 33.06– Nearly halved

• Less habitat= less biodiversity • Less habitat= increased competition• Reduced trees= increased erosion• Lost to construction= increased impermeable surface

– Increased runoff

• Lawn/grassy area: Reduced from 14.55 to 6.84– Over half lost

• Less grass= less permeable area– Increased runoff– Question of fertilizer use and maintenance over time

Errors & Bias

• Not all GPS points imported to GIS• Differences in image quality and alignments• Imperfections in polygon figures• Smaller exact details cannot be shown