The Bluegrass Region is the area in north-central Kentucky and possesses some of the most fertile soils in the world. The original bluegrass ecology was open woodland savanna characterized by the abundance of grass understory and giant individual trees. Over past three centuries, the Bluegrass Region has witnessed gradual changes in land use patterns, with a substantial land clearing and transition to cultivated lands and urban areas in recent decades driven by agricultural exploitation, population growth, and economic development. These changes have threatened the protection of unique natural, scenic, and historic resources in this region. In addition, Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region is characterized by shallow soils and karst geology, which are subject to groundwater contamination. Intensive agriculture activities (such as nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer use) and suburban sprawl may result in detrimental consequences for regional water security and environmental sustainability. However, studies that quantify recent spatial changes in land use across the Bluegrass Region are surprisingly lacking. In this study, we used the satellite-derived USDA cropland data layer (CDL) and historical land cover information from the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium’s National Land Cover Database (NLCD) to examine the recent shrinkage and fragmentation of grassland in the Bluegrass Region, Kentucky. The specific objectives are i) to quantify the temporal and spatial patterns in recent land use change across Kentucky Bluegrass Region; ii) to characterize the grassland fragmentation using landscape metrics; and iii) to identify major drivers responsible for the grassland fragmentation in the Bluegrass Region.
Results/Conclusions
The preliminary results show a noticeable decrease in grassland/pasture across the Bluegrass Region over past one and half decades. This decrease was mainly attributed to the cropland expansion and suburban sprawl, with more associated land conversions occurred in the Inner Bluegrass Region. Our study calls for wise land use planning and further investigation into land use impacts on ecosystems services (such as the water, carbon and nutrient cycles) across this region.