Habitat loss

[Chip Taylor]

A note of two on the loss of habitat

In a report last fall the US forest Service noted that the loss of 
habitat to development in the US is 6000 acres per day (9.37 square 
miles) and 2.2 million acres per year. This daily loss adds up. In 
another 18 years an area equivalent to that of the state of Illinois 
will be converted to housing, malls, etc. According to the American 
Farmland Trust about half of the area converted to development is 
farmland or about 3000 acres per day. This doesn't quite tell the 
whole story since much of the non-farm acreage that is converted is 
former farmland, land taken out of production some years prior to 
development. Farm acreage peaked in the late 40's and has been 
declining at a steady rate for the last decade. Are there 
consequences of this rapid loss of habitat for Lepidoptera and other 
wildlife? Likely, isn't it? We need more studies like Art Shapiro's, 
studies that incorporate habitat quality along with monitoring of 
changes vegetation diversity and structure together with site 
specific climatic monitoring.
-- 
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