The southern megalopolis: using the past to predict the future of urban sprawl in the Southeast U.S.

ABSTRACT: The future health of ecosystems is arguably as dependent on urban sprawl as it is on human-caused climatic warming. Urban sprawl strongly impacts the urban ecosystems it creates and the natural and agro-ecosystems that it displaces and fragments. Here, we project urban sprawl changes for the next 50 years for the fast-growing Southeast U.S. Previous studies have focused on modeling population density, but the urban extent is arguably as important as population density per se in terms of its ecological and conservation impacts. We develop simulations using the SLEUTH urban growth model that complement population-driven models but focus on spatial pattern and extent. To better capture the reach of low-density suburban development, we extend the capabilities of SLEUTH by incorporating street-

SUBMITTER: Terando AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4108351 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature