Eastern Conservation ScienceNortheast Conservation Status Report April 2011
By Arlene Olivero Sheldon on 4/13/2011 | Keyword(s): Measures; Conservation Status; Secured LandsThe Nature Conservancy's Eastern Conservation Science office, with funding from the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, is pleased to release a benchmark report summarizing the results of a comprehensive three-year assessment of species and natural habitats across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region. In an effort to evaluate the gains of a century of conservation and take the pulse of the natural world, scientists synthesized information from over 30 sources, including State Natural Heritage Programs, US Forest Inventory and Analysis, the Breeding Bird Survey, State Wildlife Action Plans and the Conservancy's Regional Science Center. Based on the recommendations of the Northeast Performance and Indicator Framework, this technical report evaluates key indicators for six natural habitats: forest, wetlands, rivers and stream, unique habitats, lakes and ponds and species of concern. Download the Executive Summary Download the Conservation Roundtable Presentation
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Individual Chapter Downloads
| | Executive Summary and Introduction
Download the Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, and Executive Summary | |
| | Secured Lands Conservation easements now cover 3.1 million acres across the region and have risen to the forefront as a means to preserve large swaths of natural land. In an easement, private entities continue to own the land, but the development rights are sold to a conservation trust, ensuring that the land stays permanently in natural cover. Add these easements to the now 1.6 million acres owned in fee by private conservation organizations, and we are witnessing a revolution in private conservation. | |
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| | Eastern Forests Almost one third of the region's forests are secured from conversion to development but most securement has been focused on the northern and boreal forests, leaving low elevation oak-pine forests largely unsecured, heavily fragmented and showing declines in over 10 species of forest birds. | |
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| | Wetlands Although over 25 percent of all wetlands have been drained for agriculture or converted to development, an equal amount is now secured from conversion. Efforts have also succeeded in securing over a third of the largest tidal marshes. It is the river-related wetlands that are most in need of action: in floodplains and marshes, the amount of conversion is five times that of nature securement. | |
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| | Unique Habitats in the Northeast
The region's 24 million acres of secured land include a wealth of scenic mountains, high summits, rocky basins, and rugged conifer forests. In fact, securement equals or exceeds conversion on steep slopes, granite, and high elevations. In contrast, a look at limestone, shale and fine sediment basins - our most productive and diverse environments - tells an entirely different story: habitat conversion in these environments exceeds nature securement 51 to 1, 29 to 1 and 11 to 1, respectively. | |
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| | Streams and Rivers
Historically, 41 percent of the region's streams were connected in huge networks over 5,000 miles long. Now, with an average of 7 dams per 100 miles of streams, none of those large networks remains and 23 percent of streams are in short networks under 25 miles in length. | |
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| | Lakes and Ponds This region's 34,000 lakes and ponds are highly accessible. Only 7 percent are over one mile from a road, and 69 percent are less than 1/10th of a mile from a road, suggesting that few remote lakes or ponds are left in the region. | |
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| | Regionally Significant Species of Greatest Conservation Need
This region is the center of distribution for 112 species of concern. For 36 of them-such as Bicknell's thrush, Atlantic sturgeon, eastern small-footed bat and wood turtle-concern is widespread and this region bears the responsibility for their conservation. Decades of inventory have identified many important locations for these species but currently only 9 percent of those are on lands secured primarily for nature and another 16 percent are on land secured for multiple uses. | |
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| | Appendices
Appendix A provides information on data sources. Detailed methods for the analyses used in the report can be found in Appendix B. Appendix C provides a brief summary of distribution and trends of Grassland and Shrubland. Download High Resolution .pdf maps (for Grassland and Shrubland) |
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